6/28/2009 12:12:00 AM Homol'ovi helps tell story of Hopi migration
Joanna Dodder/The Daily Courier
The Homol'ovi II pueblo contained approximately 1,200 rooms, three plazas and about 40 kivas. About 750-1,000 people lived there in the 1300s.
Joanna Dodder/The Daily Courier
Homol'ovi State Park's visitor center features ancient pottery and tools, as well as beautiful examples of modern Hopi pottery and katsinas for sale. Pictured is a Little Colorado canteen from the time period between 1100 and 1225 A.D.
To Donald Nelson, a Hopi who grew up in Prescott, Homol'ovi is not just another state park.
"Homol'ovi State Park to me is a very special place, in that it reaffirms the history of our migration as Hopi clans," Nelson explained of the park, which sits along the Little Colorado River about 60 miles south of the Hopi mesas.
"I would not be sitting here today if it were not for the strength, the courage and the tenacity of my ancestors to live and to survive in such a rugged environment, guided by a very strong faith and guided by the assurance that we would be taken care of if we were to follow certain instructions," Nelson said.
Homol'ovi - which means "Place of the Little Hills" in the Hopi language - is the only Arizona state park dedicated to American Indian culture, featuring several ancient pueblos that were home to Hopi ancestors.
Earlier this year the park faced potential closure because of state budget cuts and low visitor counts, but protests and offers of assistance from the Hopi Tribe have kept it open - at least for now. So far, the park has lost only two employees but remains open every day except Christmas.
Hopi ancestors (archaeologists call them the Anasazi) lived at Homol'ovi for centuries, eventually building huge pueblos before leaving for the mesas to the north in the late 1300s where others already lived.
Hopi often return to visit Homol'ovi, said Assistant Park Manager Chad, who thoroughly enjoys the spectacular views and solitude of his home in the park.
The Hopi migration story is too complex to explain here, but an important piece of the story is that the Hopi ancestors left ruins, petroglyphs and pottery sherds at places such as Homol'ovi so others, including their future leader, could know they were here.
"These are physical evidence that the Hopi clans were traveling to the center of the Earth as they were entrusted to do," Nelson explained. "The pottery sherds, the ruins themselves are guideposts and this is the way that they will find us.
"So it is important that ruin sites as a whole within the Southwest, if not throughout North America, remain intact."
It is sad to see that, instead of appreciating this important piece of history, some Homol'ovi visitors shot bullet holes into the petroglyphs and dug up the pueblos, kivas and graves to loot them.
This looting reached a fevered pitch by the 1960s, when people were even bringing backhoes in for the search.
"I have always been taught that when I visit a site...I should approach it with respect," Nelson said. "I should always remember that these were living human beings...quite similar to myself."
The public outcry over the looting eventually led to the preservation of Homol'ovi as a state park, which opened in 1993. It also is a center of research about the migration of the Hopi from the 1200s to the late 1300s.
The park features pueblos, trails, petroglyphs, interpretive signs, a campground, and visitor center. The visitor center includes ancient pottery and tools alongside modern Hopi pottery and katsinas for sale. Books and other items also are available for purchase.
Hopi artists offer demonstrations most Saturdays.
The park also contains an historic Mormon cemetery with several gravestones from the community of Sunset. These settlers didn't last as long as the Hopi, abandoning the town within about a decade in the 1880s.
People can download a Homol'ovi audio walking tour via the state parks website at www.azstateparks.com.
Benches along the park trails offer spectacular views of the San Francisco Peaks, Hopi Buttes and Little Colorado River.
Those with the opportunity should stick around Homol'ovi late enough to watch the sun set over the San Francisco Peaks, home of the Hopi katsina spirits. The Hopi call the peaks Nuvatukya'ovi.
