Hopi History Timeline

In 1847, Mormons settled in Utah and attempted to convert Indigenous people to Mormonism, creating a new religious and political influence in the region.

Image source: History of Utah

In 1849, James S. Calhoun became the official Indian agent for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Southwest Territory, headquartered in Santa Fe and responsible for the area's Indigenous residents.

Image source: James Calhoun (politician, born 1802)

Seven Hopi leaders traveled to Santa Fe in 1850 for the first formal meeting between the Hopi and the U.S. government, meeting with Indian agent James S. Calhoun.

The United States established Fort Defiance in Arizona in 1851 and stationed troops in Navajo country to address threats to the Hopi.

Mormon missionary Jacob Hamblin made his first trip into Hopi country in 1858. He developed good relations with Hopi communities.

By 1875, an LDS Church had been built on Hopi land, reflecting the continuing Mormon missionary presence associated with Jacob Hamblin.

English trader Thomas Keam escorted Hopi leaders to Washington, D.C., in 1875 to meet President Chester A. Arthur. Loololma, chief of Oraibi, was impressed by Washington.

Image source: Chester A. Arthur

President Chester A. Arthur issued an executive order on December 16, 1882, creating a reservation for the Hopi.

Image source: Hopi Reservation

The U.S. government passed the Dawes Allotment Act in 1887, extending a federal policy of dividing communally held Indigenous lands into individual allotments.

Image source: Dawes Act

A federal boarding school was established at Keams Canyon in 1887 for Hopi children.

In 1890, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Thomas Jefferson Morgan and other officials visited Hopi country to review the progress of the new school.

The Oraibi Day School opened in the Oraibi village in 1893 as part of the federal education program on the reservation.

Image source: Oraibi, Arizona

In November 1894, Captain Frank Robinson and soldiers entered Oraibi and arrested 18 Hopi resisters.

At the dawn of the 20th century, the U.S. government established day schools, missions, farming bureaus, and clinics on every Indian reservation, including the Hopi reservation.

During the early years of the 20th century, only about three percent of Hopis lived off the reservation.

In 1906, Oraibi split after a conflict between groups identified as hostiles and friendlies.

The 1910 Census for Indians recorded 2,000 Hopi members, the tribe's highest total in 20 years.

In 1924, Congress officially declared Native Americans to be U.S. citizens through the Indian Citizenship Act.

Under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Hopi created a constitution for their own tribal government and elected a Tribal Council in 1936.

On October 24, 1936, the Hopi Tribe of Arizona ratified its constitution, creating a unicameral government in which powers were vested in a Tribal Council while preserving the traditional authority of the Hopi villages.

Land disputes from 1940 to 1970 or earlier led the Hopi and Navajo nations to share the government-designated Navajo–Hopi Joint Use Area. Congress partitioned the area, commonly known as Big Mountain, through acts in 1974 and 1996, but controversy continued as of 2008.

From 1961 to 1964, the Hopi Tribal Council signed leases with the U.S. government allowing companies to explore and drill for oil, gas, and minerals in Hopi country.

In 1962, a court opinion held that the U.S. government had not granted the Navajo permission to reside on the Hopi Reservation created in 1882, while determining that the remaining Hopi land was to be shared with the Navajo as the Navajo–Hopi Joint Use Area.

Congress passed the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act in 1974, creating a legal framework for resolving the land dispute and establishing the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation.

The 1974 settlement created the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation and forced Hopi or Navajo residents living on the other nation's land to relocate.

In 1992, the Hopi Reservation was increased to approximately 1,500,000 acres, or 6,100 square kilometers.

The Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act of 1996 addressed issues left unresolved by the 1974 settlement, although controversy continued.

As of 2005, the Hopi Reservation was entirely surrounded by the much larger Navajo Reservation.

The 2010 U.S. census reported that approximately 19,338 U.S. citizens self-identified as Hopi.

The Hopi courts operate under a Tribal Code that was amended on August 28, 2012.

On November 30, 2017, Chairman Herman G. Honanie and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed the Hopi Tribe–State of Arizona Tribal Gaming Compact, one year after the tribe approved entering the compact.

The closure of a large coal mine in 2019 compounded existing unemployment among the Hopi.