June 3, 2013
This year the Hopi Festival of Arts and Culture will mark its 80th year at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Hopi lifeways, ancestors, migrations, and pottery will be part of this year’s Heritage Insights talks by cultural interpreters, with music, dances, and food on Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7.
Museum Director Dr. Robert Breunig said, “At the Museum, we are very excited to reach the 80-year mark for the Hopi Festival, originally known as the Hopi Craftsman Exhibition. The festival is a place where culture, creativity, and community happen. I hope everyone will come to be a part of this year’s excitement, and celebrate the long-standing relationship between the Museum and the Hopi people.”
Heritage Program Manager Anne Doyle added, “We’re also very excited to present a new Hopi and Hopi-Tewa pottery exhibit of recent acquisitions, in MNA’s Kiva Gallery. These select pieces have been added to MNA’s collections in the last 30 years and represent some of the most highly skilled potters in recent history. We honor and thank the donors who have contributed these artworks, so that generations to come may enjoy and learn from them.”
Heritage Insights Presentations sponsored by Arizona Humanities Council
“Recent Acquisitions to MNA’s Hopi and Hopi-Tewa Pottery Collection.”
Dr. Kelley Hays-Gilpin, the Edward Bridge Danson Chair of Anthropology at MNA and an NAU professor will explore the potters and donors who have helped to build MNA’s collection, what the collection’s strengths and weaknesses are, how the recently acquired vessels in the new Kiva Gallery exhibit were selected, and the future of collecting at the Museum.
“Hopi Permaculture”
Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Director Lilian Hill will talk about strengthening food security, traditions, and cultural values that support sustainable ways of life, in order to pass that knowledge on to future generations. Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture creates hands-on learning projects and hosts workshops for the Hopi community and its youths, to develop skills in rebuilding sustainable and thriving communities. The term “permaculture” includes permanent agriculture, animal management, and natural living environments. Hill will lead ethnobotany tours on the Museum grounds twice each day of the festival.
“Travels of the Hopi”
Flagstaff artist and educator Bob Lomadafkie will present an overview of Hopi pre-European history to the present, touching on Hopi ancestors and the migrations, where the Hopi came from, and where they are now on the Hopi Mesas. Lomadafkie has a long history with the Museum, from the time he was a small boy. He will also talk about the history of the Hopi Festivals and MNA’s relationship with the Hopi people, past and present.
Performances Under the Big Tent
Inside the Heritage Insights Tent, Hopi educator Jennifer Joseph will serve as emcee and Hopi cultural interpreter. Visitors will see the Hopi traditional dances, hear songs and music, and learn of the Hopi language and stories through performances and talks. Joseph will create a place of dialogue, while sharing her knowledge.
The Nuvatukya’ovi Sinom Dance Group will perform the Buffalo Dance. A gift from the Creator, the Buffalo Dance is performed on the Hopi Mesas as both entertainment and a reminder that buffalo, antelope, and deer used to roam in northern Arizona. It encourages good hunting, abundance of wildlife, and survival. Nuvatukya’ovi means “the high up place with snow” and is the Hopi name for the San Francisco Peaks. Visitors will enjoy performances by one warrior, two buffalos, three buffalo girls, plus drummers and singers. They will also perform the Koonina or Supai dance, celebrating the Havasupai people; the Palhikwmana or water maiden dance; and the Koshari or clown dance to unite people and make them happy. All of the dance group’s clothing, weaving, jewelry, and tabletas or headdresses are designed and handmade by the dancers.
Ed Kabotie, from Santa Clara Pueblo and the Hopi Village of Songoopavi, incorporates acoustic guitar, Native American flute, and vocals in Hopi, English, and Tewa into his music. Kabotie has two solo CDs, Origins and Freedom Songs, and a collaborative CD titled Twin Rivers. His songs are reflective and are inspired by the two Native cultures that are his birthright. He was awarded the KUYI Hopi Radio Listeners Choice Awards for The Best Male Artist in 2010, and is currently an artist-in-residence at MNA, developing new works as an award-winning silversmith, painter, and potter.
Returning this year, nonprofit KUYI, 88.1FM Native American Public Radio will broadcast live from the Hopi Festival for five hours on both days, transmitting music and stories, festival happenings, talking to visitors, interviewing festival personalities, and adding their own fun to the event.
Hopi Artists and Demonstrators
While enjoying entertainment under the big tent, take a taste of an ages-old traditional Hopi food, piki, a ceremonial food made from blue corn.
This year’s artists will include Ramon Dalangyawma, jewelry; Delbridge Honanie, paintings and prints; Iva Lee Honyestewa, baskets; Wilmer Kaye, katsina doll carving; Gerald Lomaventema, jewelry; Bryson Nequatewa, glass and katsina dolls; Dalton James, fine art; Akema Honyumptewa, painting and weaving; Sandra Hamana, cultural items; Grace Tahbo-Douma, pottery; Dianna Shebala, quilts and baskets; Kevin Quannie, painting; and Gwen Setalla, pottery. Visit MNA’s webpage at musnaz.org for updates on the event schedule and attending artists.
Hopi Dancers in Parade
As a special celebration of this 80th year, the Nuvatukya’ovi Sinom Dance Group will perform in Flagstaff’s Fourth of July Parade.
Consignment Art Gallery
In addition to the 75 booth artists, Museum staffers have made several trips to collect one-of-a-kind consigned works from individual artists across the Hopi Mesas. Collecting trips have always been an important part of the Hopi festivals, allowing artists who produce only a few items per year a chance to sell their work. Hundreds of distinctive art pieces including quilts, rattles, pottery, katsina dolls, paintings, and baskets will be on display and for sale in the consignment gallery.
Creative Corner
Outside in the courtyard, kids and the young at heart will make take-home crafts related to the Hopi culture.
80th Annual Hopi Festival Sponsors
The 2013 Hopi Festival is sponsored by Blue Cross® Blue Shield® of Arizona, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Art Works, the Arizona Humanities Council, Flagstaff Cultural Partners, BBB Revenues of Flagstaff, and Coconino County of Arizona.
About the Museum
A modern Hopi kiva mural entitled Journey of the Human Spirit is permanently installed in the Kiva Gallery. The mural is inspired by a brilliant mural painting tradition that flourished in the Southwest between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. Artists Michael Kabotie and Delbridge Honanie depicted the emergence of the Hopi people; ancient migrations; the coming of the Spanish and Anglos; strip mining on Black Mesa; the abuse of fast food, drugs, and drink by Native people; and finally, the rebirth of Hopi beliefs and traditions from the Hopi point of view.
Now celebrating its 85th year, the Museum of Northern Arizona has a long and illustrious history and evokes the very spirit of the Colorado Plateau. It serves as the gateway to understanding this region, with nine exhibit galleries revealing Native cultures, artistic traditions, and natural sciences. MNA’s four Heritage Program festivals highlight the region’s cultures and encourage communication and the exchange of ideas between visitors, educators, and artists. More information about MNA is at musnaz.org. Information is also available by phone at 928.774.5213.
The Museum of Northern Arizona is located three miles north of downtown Flagstaff on Highway 180, on the scenic route to the Grand Canyon. The Hopi Festival is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, during regular Museum hours. Festival and regular Museum admission is $10 adults, $9 seniors (65+), $7 students with student ID, $6 American Indians (10+), and $6 youths (10–17). Become a member today in time to attend the Hopi Festival Members’ Preview, Arts Award Ceremony, and Silent Auction on Friday, July 5. For more info go to musnaz.org/support/membership or call 928.774.5213.