“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?

“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.”