Description

Peaches by Kim Obrzut.

Her hair is in the traditional hairstyle called the “Hopi Whorl.” When you see this hairstyle it means she is a maiden, available for marriage.

The Spanish introduced peaches to the Hopi mesas in the sixteenth century. Fruit trees on the Hopi reservation do not produce every year due to late frosts, but in good years, however, they are plentiful. These extra peaches will be dried for later use or traded for something equally valuable.

This young maiden holds a basket of Peaches. She is showing her hard work and contribution to her village. The men of Hopi own the trees, but it is custom to allot each Peach tree to a little girl whose duty it was to care for the tree as long as it lives.

On the back of her shawl is a Hopi design for lightning, clouds and rain, these are for her prayers for her tree.

She has no face, which symbolizes the egalitarian society of the Hopi people. She represents a people, not an individual. The Hopi thought is: One Mind, one Body and one Spirit.