According to their own mythology, the Hopis emerged into the present world through an opening in the earth, or
sipapu
. Archaeological evidence indicates that at the very least they are direct descendants of the earliest Southwest peoples.
Long considered an ethnographic classic,
Old Oraibi
is as detailed a picture of Hopi religion as can be shown by an outsider. First published in 1944, it sensitively considers kinship, social organization, ceremonialism, and other lifeways of one of the most fascinating American Indian cultures, both before and after the 1906 schism between Traditionals and Progressives.