ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a historically-conditioned "baseline" picture of Hopi culture and society and to sketch a short history of early anthropological work among the Hopi. Hopi religion is communal, pantheistic, dependent on community rituals and rites of passage, and calendrical in nature. Stephen found that Hopi rituals, and therefore Hopi politics, were traditionally rooted in the clan system. Ceremonialism not only perpetuated the thrust of Hopi culture, but also placed responsibility on individuals to be not merely a cogs in the system. The dialogic nature of anthropologists' production of knowledge about Hopi culture and society is, then, historically-conditioned. A new generation of anthropologists followed hard on the heels of the historical particularists. Society and ceremonial chiefs were installed by their fellow society members, but they were actually selected from among the sons of the eldest female of their lineage and clan.
