Nonlinear Models for Archaeology and Anthropology by William W. Baden Christopher S. Beekman

Author:William W. Baden, Christopher S. Beekman [William W. Baden, Christopher S. Beekman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780754643197
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2005-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

Factionalism and Quasi-Group Formation at the Hopi Village of Orayvi

The large number of abandoned prehistoric sites and regions throughout the world attest to the fluid nature of both settlement location and community composition, as does the formation of new ‘daughter’ sites through the ‘budding off (or fissioning) process. Additionally, the variable length that aggregated sites were occupied within the same region in the same chronological period indicates that some communities were more successful at negotiating the tensions and factional tendencies inherent in quasi-group formation than others (Stone 1999). Why some of these communities were abandoned fairly quickly while others were occupied for extended periods has been the centre of debate for some time. An examination of factional activity in ethnographic pueblo communities in the American Southwest within the context of nonlinear modelling may do much to aid in our understanding of this phenomenon.

During historic times, factional disputes within pueblo communities in the American Southwest have been both numerous and well documented. In some instances, factional divisions have led to village fissioning (Ellis 1979; Garcia-Mason 1979; Parsons 1928) and in others, the villages remained united despite factional disputes by experimenting with new organizational structures (Arnon and Hill 1979; Brandt 1994; Dozier 1966; Edelman 1979; Fenton 1957). For our purposes, the fissioning of the Hopi village of Orayvi in 1906 is particularly enlightening (Cameron 1999; Dockstader 1979; Levy 1992; Rushforth and Upham 1992; Titiev 1944; Whiteley 1988). The factional disputes of the village are extremely well recorded, though the reasons for the rise of the factional dispute, the reasons why followers chose the side they chose during the dispute and the reasons for the ultimate fissioning of the village are highly debated. Additionally, other Hopi villages in close proximity to Orayvi that were undergoing similar external pressures did not fission at the same time, making Orayvi a particularly good case study for examining the interplay of internal and external factors and the impact of initial conditions in the process of village fissioning. A multi-causal, nonlinear approach that pays particular attention to initial conditions, system criticality, and the nature of information vortices can help us to understand this process better.

Prior to the fissioning of Orayvi in 1906, it was one of six villages located along the southern edge of Black Mesa (Figure 5.1), and the only village located on Third Mesa. The other villages were Polacca, Walpi, Haano, Musangnuvi, and Songoopavi. After 1906 (and continuing today), there were four villages on Third Mesa and (not counting remote farming communities and agency towns) 11 Hopi villages (Figure 5.1). The actual events of the 1800s and early 1900s that led up to the fissioning of Orayvi are generally agreed upon and well documented by Levy (1992), Titiev (1994), Whiteley (1988), Dockstader (1979) and Rushforth and Upham (1992). The following is a synthesis of the data presented in these sources.

There were two core groups of individuals that formed the heart of the quasi-groups at Orayvi. Based on interaction with the US government, they were labeled as

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