“The land actually owns us when you think about it. We don’t own land. We don’t own water. It owns us. Because without it, we can’t survive.”

HopiHopi - PE

May 22

Howard Dennis (how-ward den-niss)

silversmith, flute chief of Mishognonvi

IMAGE SOURCE: David Wallace. “'Everything depends on the corn': As crops wither, the Hopi fear for their way of life.” Arizona Republic. 30 Nov. 2020. | TEXT SOURCE: Ian James. “'Everything depends on the corn': As crops wither, the Hopi fear for their way of life.” Arizona Republic. 30 Nov. 2020.

QUOTE CONTEXT: “Dennis, who is a religious leader in his village, said it’s important to recognize that traditional farming doesn’t involve ownership of these lands…Dennis said each corn plant can produce quite a lot for a family, and “as long as we eat, we’re happy.”

QUOTE QUESTION: What lands and waters do you belong to?

IMAGE CONTEXT: “Howard Dennis tends corn on a field below Second Mesa on the Hopi Reservation on Sept. 11, 2020 .”

IMAGE QUESTION: What grows up alongside you?

MEDIA LITERACY CONTEXT: The quote and photo are from a large regional newspaper.

MEDIA LITERACY QUESTION: How do you decide whether and how to share your Peoples’ stories with the mainstream press?

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“The land actually owns us when you think about it. We don’t own land. We don’t own water. It owns us. Because without it, we can’t survive.”

Howard Dennis (how-ward den-niss)

“In a matrilineal society on Hopi, we are expected to fulfill certain roles in the village to ensure the land is cared for.”

“We must teach our children their mother tongue & our philosophies which go back beyond the memory of man. We must keep the embers burning so we may gather around (our ancestral fires) again.”