Native American Cultural opportunity
in Sedona and nearby Verde Valley Archaeology Center
spring and fall events
Crossing Worlds Hopi Projects took an active role in inviting Hopi artists and cultural presenters to our first Verde Valley Archaeology Center Fair March 23 and 24, 2012. We helped support the participation of 30 Hopis at our first fair who brought with them the authentic sense of Hopi life and thought. The Hopi presence brought a depth of cultural experience for fair visitors and generated a lot of energy, interest and enthusuiasm. Hopis are the living descendants of the ancestors who abandoned the thousands of prehistoric village, rock art and farming sites around the valley by 1425. For the Hopi these sites are still alive with spiritual presence and many of them are visited annually by different Hopi clans who leave prayer offerings at them for the continuance of life. Our goal is to bring the "ruins" to life by providing fair visitors a chance to interact and learn from the Hopi people. We also have a goal to support Hopi people in having a place to sell their art (to support their traditional life) and enjoy a weekend festival time out from their busy reservation life. We also want to extend a chance for Hopis to see some of the local ancestral sites. Photo to right is of youngest member of the Yellow Fox Hopi dance group we once again sponsored to come our fall 2012 Verde Valley Archaeology Society event. He had noticably matured since coming in the spring and really paid a lot of attention to all the details and was very proud to be up on the stage with his family. Heart warming to see! Other Hopi participants commented to me that they felt like they had a chance to be heard that is hard to do on their remote reservation. And that they enjoyed interacting with our visitors at the festival. We got off to a great start with the March 2012 Archaeology Fair event in Camp Verde, Crossing Worlds Foundation was able to pay hotel and some transportation money to bring the Hopi dance group (10 people) down to Camp Verde as well as 2 representatives from Natwani, the traditional farming eduction group, and helped support a total of 30 Hopis. We provided them lunches which our volunteers made and delivered, helped welcome them. I made all of their hotel reservations and did a lot of coordination so they would feel secure coming down here. We also had an information table at the event. A young family Sandra encouraged to come to the March, 2012 festival, for example, had hardly ever been off of Hopi--this was a major experience for them. Charles and Doris West hosted the young family, even gave them rides from Hopi and back to Flagstaff. Verde Valley Archaeology Center Events Immerse yourself in Native American culture and the archaeology of the Verde Valley of Central Arizona. The Verde Valley Archaeology Center hosts two main events each year. The annual Festival of Native American Film and American Indian Art Show is held in the Fall. The annual Verde Valley Archaeology Fair and American Indian Art Show held in March as part of Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month celebrations. All our events are held in historic Camp Verde, Arizona. MARCH SEPTEMBER The Native American Film Festival provides a venue for feature films, shorts, videos and documentaries of USA American Indian and Canada First Nation communities. We often include feature films by indigenous people of other countries. Public screenings and events will be held for two days. Sedona Program, end of September: Hopi Corn Pit Roast, a visual presentation by Ramson Lomatewama |
Photo below is of a Sedona family who hosted her Hopi family for the weekend:
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