The Metaphorical Dimensions of Hopi Ethics

The Metaphorical Dimensions of Hopi Ethics Maria Glowacka with Emory Sekaquaptewa Richard Brandt, author of the seminal work Hopi Ethics (1954), was one of the first philosophers who emphasized the importance of understanding local ethics of native peoples for the analysis of philosophical problems in Western ethics. At the time he conducted his research, the Hopi did not have a writing system for their language. Brandt (1954:69) noted that the Hopi did not appear to have developed distinctly ethical terminology: “For the Hopi apparently do not have a term like ‘moral’ by which to make sharp distinction between ‘wrong’ and ‘morally wrong’ nor they seem to have a pair of terms as exclusively associated with the ethical as ‘praise-worthy’ and ‘blame-worthy.’” I concur with Ladd (1957:316) that Brandt’s approach indicates that he applied a Western classification of moral principles to order his findings. To analyze or evaluate any of the Brandt’s findings goes beyond the scope of this paper. The findings are based on an outsider’s interpretative categories and a methodological approach that uses a priori premises. Brandt’s work on Hopi ethics has been thoroughly reviewed by scholars representing fields of anthropology and philosophy; for example, Titiev (1955), Edel (1955), and Bidney (1955:49), who criticizes Brandt for making “no significant contribution to ethnological theory or ethical theory in particular.” One of Brandt’s techniques was to present the Hopi informants with eighteen problem stories and ask them to evaluate these problem stories in ethical terms. As Titiev (1955:1307) rightly points out, some of the episodes Brandt presented were “so far out of the range of the Hopi world as to appear fantastic.” He continues, “Imagine asking the semi-desert dwelling Hopi to judge (p. 228) if ‘ten ship wrecked men’ ought to eat some of their number in order to save the rest!” (1955:1307). This article is dedicated to the memory of the late Emory Sekaquaptewa. The article was accepted for publication in July 2007. At that time, Emory was a professor in the University of Arizona’s Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, and Maria Glowacka was then a faculty member in the Department of Anthropology and the American Indian Studies Program at Idaho State University. Journal of the Southwest 51, 2 (Summer 2009):165–186 166  ✜  Journal of the Southwest In this study I diverge from the line of theoretical and methodological reasoning proposed by Brandt. In contrast to Brandt I argue that the Hopi have a system of ethics that can be studied from a native language perspective. The Hopi ethical key concepts and their culture-specific meanings are often expressed metaphorically in ritual song. Following Lakoff (1999), Johnson (1987, 1993), and Wierzbicka (1997), I consider the study of conceptual systems a valuable tool for explanation in sociocultural research, and specifically in moral theory. I will provide the evidence for this proposition from the katsina song texts that, according to Emory Sekaquaptewa (personal communication), represent a body of traditional Hopi moral teachings.1 I will also focus on the cultural connotations and linguistic usages of the concept of unangwa, or ‘heart,’ that is central to an understanding of what it means to be human in the Hopi cultural milieu. The traditional system of Hopi ethics consists of a set of principles for life, conveyed in metaphoric or symbolic forms, that inform human behavior and guide the Hopi in their life journey, qatsivötskwani (literally ‘the path of life that will be [morally] straight’), to fulfill their destiny as a people and to achieve the perfect world symbolized by the concept of spiritual entities, the katsinam. These life-guiding principles have great ancestry, having been preserved in collective cultural memory through the verbal messages of narratives and songs; pictorial images on objects such as ceramics, baskets, kiva mural paintings, and rock inscriptions; and expressive forms (movements, attire, paraphernalia, etc.) associated with ritual performances that are intimately tied to physical places of cultural significance.2 The Hopi—agricultural inhabitants of twelve villages in the arid environment of Black Mesa in northeastern Arizona—have never been forcibly removed from their traditional territory. After centuries of EuroAmerican colonization, the Hopi...