Question

Analyze the Hopi story "How the Spaniards Came to Shung-opovi, How They Built a Mission, and How the Hopi Destroyed the Mission," and determine its audience and purpose. Cite direct evidence from the text to support your analysis.

Answer 1

The storyteller uses words such as First Mesa Bahana, Kachinas, and pahos to narrate “How the Spaniards Came to Shung-opovi, How They Built a Mission, and How the Hopi Destroyed the Mission.” Only the Hopi would understand these terms, so the reader can conclude that the story is intended for other Hopi people.

The purpose of the Hopi story is to tell the audience about cultural conflicts between Europeans and American Indians during the colonial period. Perhaps the story is meant to warn or inform other Hopi people about their relations with the foreign colonists. The following excerpt from the story tells how the Europeans mistreated the Hopi:

If any man gave out on the way he was simply left to die. There was great suffering. Some died for lack of food and water, while others developed scabs and sores on their bodies.

It took a good many years for them to get enough beams to Shung-opovi to build the mission. When this mission was finally built, all the people in the village had to come there to worship, and those that did not come were punished severely.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

Step-by-step explanation:

Interestingly, the text was primarily designed for the Hopi people in mind because it narrates the cultural differences between the Spaniards and native American Indians during the colonial period. Also, it uses certain expressions best understood by a Hopi native. For example, referring to the Spaniards, the text says,

"He did not like the Kachinas and he destroyed the altars and the customs. He called it idol worship and burned up all the ceremonial things in the plaza."

Such statement above is meant to sympathize with a typical Hopi native who viewed the Spaniards as trying to eradicate their culture and religion.