Page 98 - TheHopiIndians

90 MESA FOLK OF HOPILAND
One of these groups on the smooth rocks near Hoi-
brook, Arizona, shows a man driving a flock of turkeys,
and is exceedingly graphic. On the cliff faces below
Walpi are numerous well-executed pietographs, and
occasionally one runs across recent work on the mesa
top that excites admiration. With sculpture in the
round the Hopi has done nothing remarkable because
his tastes and materials have never led in this direc
tion. A few rather large figures rudely carved from
soft sandstone may be seen around the pueblos, and
numerous fetiches, some of very hard stone, repre
senting wolves, bears, and other animals, are still in
the keeping of the societies. Some of these are very
well done, but show little progress in sculpture. The
visitor must beware of the little fetiches whittled from
soft stone and offered for sale as genuine by the guile
ful Hopi in quest of shiba.
The industry which the Hopi woman has all in her
own hands is.basket-making, and the work is appor
tioned to such as have the skill and fancy for it, as if
there Were a division of labor. The women of the
three towns on the East Mesa do not make baskets at
all, those of the Middle Mesa sew only coiled baskets,
while the women of Oraibi weave wicker baskets ex
clusively. Thus, there is no difficulty in saying just
where a Hopi basket comes from, and there is also no
excuse for not recognizing these specimens of Hopi
woman's work at first glance, as they have a strong
individuality that separates them from all other bas
kets of the Indians.