Hopi Essence: Self-Portrait and Poem

The somber face, the snow-misting hair and the eyes looking at me/you is me—Lomawywesa, Antelopes Walking in Harmony. Born to the Snow/Water Clan of Shungopavi, a migratory people who traveled to the Hopi mesas from the legendary Red City to the South, Paalotkwapi. It was at Paalotkwapi that our Father, the Serpent, emerged and gathered us, his children, and blessed us with Clouds. “Go northward my Children,” he directed us. So northward we journeyed and among the barren mesas we emerged to reside with the Bear Clan and build our Cloud-Inspired Homes. And to these Cloud-Terraced homes our Cloud Fathers/Mothers will arrive to rest and bring Life-Giving Moisture And to these Cloud-Terraced homes our Katsina Fathers/Mothers will arrive to bless and purify our Lives then to return to Nuvatukwiovi, the Sacred Snow-Capped Peaks And Among these Cloud-Terraced homes our Bear Clan Fathers/Mothers will lead us daily over the blessed pollen pathway of the Hopi And among these Cloud-Terraced homes we/I experience our Lives; looking, listening, singing and dancing as we/I prepare for that final journey And to these Cloud-Terraced homes to return once again as a Rain-Carrier and scaring you with the boldest lightning and the loudest thunders