NO. 2235. HOFl INDIAN COLLECTION— HOVGH. 275 



ters maintain silence when the burning is in process lest the spirits 

 be offended and cause the vessels to break. This is probably in part 

 a fire taboo and in part due to a belief that a proper spirit inhabits 

 each piece of j)ottery. 



Pottery-making among the Hopi is at present confined East and 

 JVIiddle Mesas, having become obsolete at Oraibi. There is evidence 

 that the art which in ancient times produced the superb ceramics of 

 Sikyatki and the interesting and beautiful ware of the ruined pueblos 

 of the Hopi clans had declined and become almost extinct in the late 

 seventeenth or early in the eighteenth century. On the arrival of 

 a group of Tewans from the Rio Grande, who were settled at Hano 

 on the East Mesa, about 1700, the art was revived by these potters, 

 but the style of decoration was necessarily foreign and remains so 

 to this day. Pottery, especially vases, collected at Orabai by Major 

 J. W. Powell in 1872, probably represent a transition or survival of 

 the ancient Hopi art. These unique specimens which are exhibited in 

 the United States National Museum ^ were in use by the Oraibi, but 

 were evidently antique and were not still made at the time of col- 

 lection. The designs show transition, and the forms, while following- 

 that of the ancient and graceful Hopi vases, are cruder. Some of 

 the old Oraibi pottery imitates Zuni form and design. Ancient Hopi 

 pottery is yellow, orange, and cream color and was never surface 

 washed with other clay. While traditionally some of the Hopi clans 

 occupied formerly the region where gra}' ware decorated with black 

 was prevalent, this ware was never made by the Hopi since they 

 occupied their present location. A few specimens of a particularly 

 fine gra}^ a\ are have been found in ancient Hopi ruins on the Little 

 Colorado near Winslow, Arizona. The loss of the art of making gray 

 and red ware by the Hopi presents an interesting field for study, 

 which contains important data on the history of this people.^ 



WOOD. 



The timber supply in proximity of the Hopi villages is not now 

 and probably never was large or varied. The only tree of general use 

 in the vicinity is the cottonwood, Po'pulus monilifera^ pa she hurps 

 he, of the Hopi, a quick-growing tree along washes, near springs, 

 or wherever there is water. The cottonwood forms the chief basis 

 of the Hopi wood-working industry, and on account of its religious 

 associations and economic uses may be termed the Hopi culture 

 tree. The pinyon, Pinus edulis, which grows farther away, is some- 

 what useful for beams, etc. ; but the great pines of the mountains are 

 too distant to be available. The most prevalent tree, the juniper, 



1 West north hall, first floor. 



- A splendid collection of the ancient Hopi pottery is exhibited on the second floor, east 

 north hall of the Natural History Building. 



