Rethinking Hopi Ethnography (Smithsonian Series in Ethnographic Inquiry)

Rating:
Summary: An ethnographic effort to explain Hopi thought.
Review: Peter Whiteley is familiar with two worlds: that of the Hopi of Northern Arizona and the ethnographers that have both plagued and portrayed Hopi life over the last century. This is a book which will put off those readers that have no anthropological background, because the author is fully vested in the vocabulary of his discipline. For the layman who ventures beyond that disciplinary affectation, however, there are meaningful insights provided into both Hopi ethnography and the very nature of such discussions. Issues raised in this book are worthy of examination for any "cultural explorer", but especially for those with an interest in the Hopi. He states his process of discovery and synthesis in such a way that both histories and ethnocentrisms are placed in an orderly context. I admire his effort and only wish that it were written for a more general audience, because the "New-Agers" and others that misappropriate or misinterpret Hopi thinking will seek the easier and - almost certainly - less accurate portrayals found in popular works. Those who make the effort will be rewarded with both accuracy and insight from a man who has earned his perspective.

Rating:
Summary: An ethnographic effort to explain Hopi thought.
Review: Peter Whiteley is familiar with two worlds: that of the Hopi of Northern Arizona and the ethnographers that have both plagued and portrayed Hopi life over the last century. This is a book which will put off those readers that have no anthropological background, because the author is fully vested in the vocabulary of his discipline. For the layman who ventures beyond that disciplinary affectation, however, there are meaningful insights provided into both Hopi ethnography and the very nature of such discussions. Issues raised in this book are worthy of examination for any "cultural explorer", but especially for those with an interest in the Hopi. He states his process of discovery and synthesis in such a way that both histories and ethnocentrisms are placed in an orderly context. I admire his effort and only wish that it were written for a more general audience, because the "New-Agers" and others that misappropriate or misinterpret Hopi thinking will seek the easier and - almost certainly - less accurate portrayals found in popular works. Those who make the effort will be rewarded with both accuracy and insight from a man who has earned his perspective.