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.
Subjects
Infancy and childhood
Behavior processes and personality
Socialization
Culture summary
Sorcery
culture
Hopi
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