My father-in-law lived with the Hopi people in the southwest for a time. He told me this story.
When the 5 nations were brought forth, the God of War visited them each. The Apache fell in worship and he gave them many gifts, the ability to be fierce warriors, and much corn.
The Hopi did not worship the War God and he was infuriated. He decided to teach them why war was necessary, so he only gave them one ear of corn, figuring they would fight over it and ask him for his gifts.
Instead, the Hopi ground the corn and, saving a few kernels, divided it equally among themselves. The next year they were able to grow more corn and became a cooperative society, sharing the crops they grew and meat they hunted. To protect themselves from the more warlike people, they built dwellings into the mountains and preserved their way of life for many years.
Instead, the Hopi ground the corn and, saving a few kernels, divided it equally among themselves. The next year they were able to grow more corn and became a cooperative society, sharing the crops they grew and meat they hunted. To protect themselves from the more warlike people, they built dwellings into the mountains and preserved their way of life for many years.
Few Hopi survive today (the Europeans being even more in love with war than the Apache) but they maintain their way of life.
I like this. we need to tell more stories like this in order to reinforce the scientific fact that the species that collaborated the most were the ones that evolved. Thanks my friend and happy new year!
ReplyDeleteThe tragedy is that these cooperative societies are raided by the warring ones. The Hopi were under attack by the Apache before the white men came. Examining "primitive" societies should be an important area of study. I know the Hopi were matrilineal; I wonder if this made the difference. Why did the Hopi (and Zuni) develop and evolve one way and the Apache another?
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