The Unveiling of the Hopi Prophecies: Context and Consequences Within and Outside of the Hopi Tribe

Abstract

This paper examines the journey of the Hopi Prophecies from being contained within the Hopi Tribe to their expansion into the greater world communities. I am positing that the reason for the revelation of these Prophecies to the outside world (The Other) was in fact a way for certain members of the Hopi Tribe to gain lost agency as well as a way to validate the teachings on a global level. I will first go through the emergence or creation myths within the Hopi religious tradition. Next, I will give an explanation of the timeline that was used to bring these prophecies to the rest of the world. Intermingled within this structure are the internal and external political, governmental, and social complexities that play an integral part in the decision for some Hopi’s to share these prophecies with the world, in the hopes that the Other would take note and change their ways. What my research has shown me is that by unveiling these prophecies to the world, Hopi religious thought via the Prophecies, has been able to explain how one should live, why one should live in a particular prescribed manner, what will happen if only some people follow these ways, and finally what will happen if no one follows these teachings.