7 - The Great Abandonment

Summary

Hopi oral traditions tell of the travels of those who survived the destruction of the corrupt village of Palatkwapi. People separated into several groups, each heading out in a different direction – some clans traveled alone, while others banded together. Those who went to the south were never seen again. The rest, however, walked for many years, encountering other tribes, some of which were friendly and others which were not. Some Hopi clans disappeared, while others filled their ranks with strangers they met during their journey.

Moving from place to place, building villages along the way, many of the clans converged on Homol'ovi, where they established two settlements. In the smaller one, people of the Water and Sand clans lived, while the larger structure housed members of the Tobacco, Rabbit, Sun, Eagle, Hawk, Turkey, and Moon clans. Some time later, villagers at Homol'ovi were joined by the Badger clan and a group calling itself the Reed clan. Other groups arrived, including the Fox and Fire clans from the east. And from time to time, still more people drifted in from different directions. “Thus Homol'ovi grew large and populous” (Courlander 1971:70–3).

Perhaps the Pueblo oral histories recall the decades at the end of the thirteenth century and beginning of the fourteenth century, a period that is often referred to as the “Great Abandonment” since Puebloan people depopulated large portions of the Colorado Plateau.