ABSTRACT
The Hopi are the westernmost group of the Pueblo Indians. They speak a Uto-Aztecan language and inhabit the arid Colorado Plateau of northeastern Arizona in villages located about 120 km north of present-day Flagstaff. During the Spanish contact period, the Hopi occupied an area 65 km wide and 50 km long. Information on the relations between the Hopi and the Spaniards comes from three sources: Spanish documents, archaeological data, and Hopi oral history. The Hopi were affected in substantial ways by the presence of Spaniards in the New Mexican province. However, these effects were not so much a result of Spanish policy as they were the repercussions of having a totally alien culture among the Pueblo peoples. The Hopi were also able to resist Spanish culture through their skillful use of diplomacy. The Hopi leadership always had advance warning of impending visits by Spaniards because Zuni and other villages served as intermediate stopping points on the trip to Hopi.
