Page 37 - TheHopiIndians

MESA FOLK OF HOPILAND 29

mice and vermin and occasionally sunned on the roof.
There are, no doubt, many cares and much labor, but
the women take their time and everyone, from the
little child to the experienced old grandmother, lends
a helping hand. A Hopi woman would perhaps not
understand our kind commiseration for the lot that
her sex has experienced and thriven under from time
immemorial.
Winter in Tusayan is more enjoyable than other
wise, as the sun is bright and the sky a clear blue.
The snows of winter are nearly as rare as the rain
storms of summer, much to the regret of the Hopi.
Often the cold at night is intense, but the day may
have the crisp though mild air of a rare day in spring
at the East.
Not much change comes over the landscape of Tu
sayan by the advent of winter. There are few trees
to lose their leaves after a gorgeous pageant of fare
well. The desert plants scarcely ever alter the ap
pearance of the earth by their leaf tints of spring,
summer, or autumn ; with their diminutive leaves and
sober color they sink into the vast surface and are lost
among the vivid aerial tints and the bright hues of the
rocks and plains. There are no rivers to be covered
by a sheen of ice. and rarely does a mantle of snow
reach across the deserts from the snow-clad moun
tains. The winds rave and whirlwinds swirl the sand
along the plain in giant columns, while the sun hangs
lower and lower in the southwest until the Hopi fear