"The Hopi Followers": Chief Tawaquaptewa and Hopi Student Advancement at Sherman Institute, 1906-1909

In November 1906, just weeks after a major Hopi division in the village of Oraibi, Arizona, 71 Hopi pupils left their families and homes to attend Sherman Institute, an off-reservation Indian boarding school in Riverside, California. Accompanied by their Kikmongwi (Village Chief), Tawaquaptewa and other Hopi leaders, the Hopis embarked on an adventure that forever changed their lives. For the majority of Hopi students, the adventure to the "land of oranges" lasted no more than three years. Between 1906 and 1909, Hopis excelled at the school in academics, vocational training, music, art and various other programs the federal government used to assimilate Hopis into mainstream "white" society. This paper tells the story of Hopis at Sherman who, in spite of cultural tensions, made remarkable advancements by using and practicing their culture at a school that government officials initially created to destroy Hopi and other Indian cultures.