The Hopi Celebration

The Hopi Indians are an integral part of Flagstaff.  Recently, a large building bordering downtown’s Heritage Square was renamed “the Hopi Building”;

the tribe held a celebration around the ribbon cutting.

Cake and punch was provided for the crowd, an arts and crafts fair provided a look at their work, and dancers entertained.

Each tribe has a different way of expressing themselves through art.  For the Hopi, it’s stylized paintings and weaving.  We enjoyed looking at the colorful offerings.

 

This young man demonstrated a traditional spinning toy for us. Four teenagers provided the dancing entertainment.  We’ve seen several tribes performing in dance exhibits; the one thing that stood out in the Hopi dancing was that they enter the arena backwards.

    

It’s good to see the youth working to preserve their heritage.