Hisatsinom Migration

Original Artwork

Gerald Dawavendewa (Hopi & Cherokee)

Handmade Amate bark paper, ink, acrylic and mineral paints on wood panel. 18 inches square, 1.75 inches deep.

The Hopi people have migrated throughout the southwest for thousands of years. As they rested to build villages and cultivate crops, they created pottery. Not all the pottery would survive the firings, and damaged pieces would be broken apart and left on the land. These pottery shards would become “footprints,” a map of the travels and places of the Hopi people. This artwork depicts these pottery shards in the southwest in their rich designs and colors. Each symbol represents elements of the world through clouds, moisture, plant life, animals, and ceremonies, to name a few. Above the pottery shards are the colors of the four directions, the migration paths that the Hopi people have taken.