Hopi Agriculture
The Hopi are expert farmers in an area that might not, at first glance, appear to be conducive to farming.The Hopi homeland lacks permanent rivers or lakes and has limited rainfall. Winters are cold and the growing season is short.To successfully farm in this area, the Hopi developed special strains of corn that could withstand the short growing season and limited moisture. Hopi corn has long tap roots, designed to reach deep to where the moisture is, and short stalks, designed to withstand the strong winds that can blow across the mesas. The corn is planted in widely spaced intervals in sand dunes, which tend to hold more moisture than other areas. In addition to this sand dune farming, the Hopi also practice floodwater farming (where fields are watered by overflow from the banks of rivers) and ak chin farming. Ak chin farming consists of farming at the mouths of arroyos, or washes, to catch the water that spreads out on alluvial fans after rains. Each family typically maintains several small fields in a variety of locations, in order to maximize the likelihood that at least one field of crops will survive.
Ak chin corn field plants in sand dunes
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