Page 82 - TheHopiIndians

74 MESA FOLK OF HOPILAND

maker seems to require, and his formula for the height
of the instep has not been divulged, but it must be ef
fective, because moccasins are made to fit with greater
art than is displayed by many civilized shoemakers.
The soles are buried in damp sand to make them
pliable, and the front section of the top is sewn around
the edge reaching to about the ankle bones. The moc
casin is then turned inside out and the ankle section
sewn on. Tying strings are added, or if especial style
is desired, silver buttons made by Navaho from dimes
or quarters take their place.
The Hopi live a very long way from the range of
the deer, a fact which accounts largely for their use of
woven fabrics. But deerskins must always have been
in demand, and these were got in exchange with the
Navaho, Havasupai, and other neighbors. In this way
in old times buffalo skins and pelts of animals came
to Tusayan, and Hopi bread and blankets went to re
mote mountains and plains.
It would be interesting to know whether the Hopi
formerly were sandal people or moccasin people, and
this knowledge would reveal a great deal that is now
mere guesswork as to their history. The sandal peo
ple would mean those of the south who were of Mex
ico, where no moccasins seem ever to have been worn.
The moccasin people would be those of the north, the
tribes of our mountains and plains, among whom this
foot-wear is typical. Perhaps the Hopi belong to both
classes. The cliff-dwellers wore sandals, and for win