Book

The psychosocial analysis of a Hopi life-history

University of California Press • (1) • Published In 1951 • Pages: 6, 133

By: Aberle, David Friend.

Abstract

This source is an attempt “to analyze a single life-history for the light it sheds on the society in which the subject lives” (p. 1). It should be read in conjunction with or after Talayesva (Document 7), since it is an analysis of that material. Unfortunately, but maybe necessarily, it tends to repeat large amounts of data already in the file in Titiev (Document 1) or Talayesva (Document 7). Thus large summary sections are followed by shorter analyses. However for the analysis to be intelligible, it is difficult to see how else this might have been accomplished. The best material here concerns witchcraft and interpersonal relations. Since it is based on primary material, for the most part already in the file, to which the researcher can easily refer, it is a valuable addition to the file in terms of the insights it offers about Hopi society. Aberle that “cooperation, lack of physical coercion, and peaceful behavior” certainly contrast with “witchcraft, suspicion, and hostility” but that both sets are characteristics of Hopi society (p. 124). The set which is emphasized is dependant upon the environmental conditions at the moment. This is a secondary source, no fieldwork was involved.

HRAF PubDate

2000

Region

North America

Sub Region

Southwest and Basin

Document Type

Book

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

Analyst

Martin Malone ; 1975

Field Date

none

Coverage Date

ca. 1899-1940

Coverage Place

Oraibi Pueblo, northeastern Arizona, United States

Notes

David Aberle

Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-133)

LCSH

Hopi Indians