Essay Database

Evaluations for the Oraibi Split The split of the Third Mesa pueblo, Oraibi, occurred on September 7, 1906. The split immediately changed the lives of roughly 800 inhabitants of Oraibi who represented nearly half of the Hopi population. Those who left Oraibi were forced to start their lives over in a new location. From a long-term perspective, the split is consequential because it led to the establishment of other villages (e.g., Bacavi, Hotevilla, and Kykotsmovi) of Third …

…of the Oraibi split. This suggests that Clemmer and Whiteley’s contributions to our understanding of this event may be put together and placed in a more general explanatory framework. This structure refers to external forces that intruded on the Hopis between the 1850s and early 1900s, which created conditions of deprivation at Oraibi. The religious elite of Oraibi interpreted these conditions from an internal perspective, which later resulted in the destruction of pueblo Oraibi.