Hopi burying weapons??

Discussions toward a better understanding of LDS doctrine, history, and culture. Discussion of Christianity, religion, and faith in general is welcome.
Scruples
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:40 pm

Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Scruples » Sun Apr 30, 2017 5:00 pm

Does anyone know anything about the Hopi Indians legend about them burying their knives just like in the BOM?

https://latterdaylamanite.com/2013/10/2 ... r-weapons/

A family member posted the story but I've never heard of any stories like this backing up BOM stories.

Thoughtful
Posts: 1162
Joined: Wed Apr 19, 2017 9:54 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Thoughtful » Sun Apr 30, 2017 9:20 pm

Scruples wrote:
Sun Apr 30, 2017 5:00 pm
Does anyone know anything about the Hopi Indians legend about them burying their knives just like in the BOM?

https://latterdaylamanite.com/2013/10/2 ... r-weapons/

A family member posted the story but I've never heard of any stories like this backing up BOM stories.
Never heard this one, but the book it supposedly comes from our cited. Hmmm.

User avatar
Hagoth
Posts: 7075
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 1:13 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Hagoth » Sun Apr 30, 2017 9:23 pm

Hi Scruples. Welcome to NOM.

I can only find references to this story on Mormon and Mormon-ish websites. I would love to see any other sources. It kind of looks to me like one of those stories that gets re-told and adapted in a faith-promoting way. but may not bear much resemblance to the original source, kind of like the way the Spanish missionaries incorrectly interpreted Aztec and Maya practices as Christian-inspired. But if it is accurate it wouldn't necessarily be a bullseye; passive resistance has been around for a long time in a lot of different forms.

I had a seminary teacher who told us about a grave that was found somewhere in South America (I guess this was before the limited geography apologetics took over). The grave contained only arms. He tried to convince us that they were the arms that Amon hacked off the raiders while defending Lamoni's flocks. I was intrigued and asked him for more details. It turns out there was also a grave full of legs, one for heads and another with torsos. Some times "amazing" evidence is just the result of careful cherry picking or misremembering.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

User avatar
Grace2Daisy
Posts: 98
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:01 am
Location: With the Love of My Life

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Grace2Daisy » Mon May 01, 2017 2:52 pm

Hagoth wrote:
Sun Apr 30, 2017 9:23 pm
I can only find references to this story on Mormon and Mormon-ish websites.
You are absolutely correct. The link provided quotes an older book which was written by a LDS member, I have the book in my collection and it does not make reference to where the information had been gathered. In studying the Hopis I have never found a document which confirms anything stated within the book.

I bought a book by Frank Waters called "The Book of the Hopi and it has nothing in it even similar to what is provided in the link.
The Hopi religion is a complex, highly developed belief system incorporating many gods and spirits, such as Earth Mother, Sky Father, the Sun, the Moon, and the many kachinas, or invisible spirits of life.
"What is truth?" retorted Pilate. John 18:38

Gatorbait
Posts: 245
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2017 4:13 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Gatorbait » Mon May 01, 2017 3:12 pm

Well, I must say, I struggle to see how this could have much truth to it. Does not make sense.

For one who has lived on the Hopi reservation and done work for and with the Hopis and the Tewas in Arizona for years this story sounds strange indeed. They are and have been a peace loving people for over a thousand years, building their homes on the tops of Mesas so that the marauding Navajos and Utes would not be able to attack them and steal their women and children. They still dislike Navajos and Utes. When I visited a few months ago, I did not see many changes from when I lived there many years ago. They love peace not battle.

The Hopis were not fighters. They didn't embrace the Mormon faith, although they are a very spiritual people, gracious, kind and intelligent. There is one small LDS branch in Polaca, Arizona and the inactivity rate is high. They don't even have missionaries there to teach, just service missionaries.

Laying down weapons of war? What war? Tell me one Hopi war. One.

Nope, I don't believe this ever happened. Goes nicely with a lot of the stories in the Church. They might be interesting....but it does not mean that they are true.
"Let no man count himself righteous who permits a wrong he could avert". N.N. Riddell

Scruples
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2017 4:40 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Scruples » Mon May 01, 2017 4:22 pm

Thanks everyone! I had tried to find more information about it but couldn't, so I appreciate the help. I figured it was probably another story passed down, but someone on here is always able to help.

User avatar
General Nuisance
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 10:43 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by General Nuisance » Mon May 01, 2017 5:21 pm

The Hopi are socially organized along family lines or clans according to female lineage. There is a "houseboat clan"...

User avatar
Hagoth
Posts: 7075
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 1:13 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Hagoth » Mon May 01, 2017 5:22 pm

General Nuisance wrote:
Mon May 01, 2017 5:21 pm
The Hopi are socially organized along family lines or clans according to female lineage. There is a "houseboat clan"...
Jaredites, no doubt.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

User avatar
2bizE
Posts: 2405
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2016 9:33 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by 2bizE » Mon May 01, 2017 8:48 pm

Anything like this from a mormon source screams myth.
~2bizE

User avatar
Vlad the Emailer
Posts: 169
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2016 1:03 pm
Location: Lower Midwest

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Vlad the Emailer » Tue May 02, 2017 9:56 am

From the link:
They tied their food supplies and seeds around their waists and over their shoulders and began their migration. Many times they would not take off their supplies to rest at night because they knew they must go on–they had a long journey ahead of them.
Wonder why they didn't just ride their horses.
Hagoth wrote:
Sun Apr 30, 2017 9:23 pm
I can only find references to this story on Mormon and Mormon-ish websites. I would love to see any other sources. It kind of looks to me like one of those stories that gets re-told and adapted in a faith-promoting way.
As with 99.9% of any such "evidence" I have ever seen, when traced back to find some kind of actual source the wonderful story not only disappears, but is discovered to be almost completely inconsistent with the actual history and beliefs of the people involved. And thus we have the very definition of Mormon apologetics. Don't worry about the reality, just bask in the faith promoting glow!
When an honest man discovers he is mistaken, he will either cease being mistaken, or cease being honest. - Anonymous

Say what you want about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying. - Kurt Vonnegut

User avatar
moksha
Posts: 5050
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 4:22 am

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by moksha » Tue May 02, 2017 12:18 pm

It was easier for the Nephites and Lamanites to bury a knife than it was to bury the hatchet.
Good faith does not require evidence, but it also does not turn a blind eye to that evidence. Otherwise, it becomes misplaced faith.
-- Moksha

User avatar
deacon blues
Posts: 1933
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:37 am

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by deacon blues » Thu May 04, 2017 5:47 pm

I wonder if their enemies found out where they buried their weapons and dug them up. Or maybe they just had a garage sale. ;)
God is Love. God is Truth. The greatest problem with organized religion is that the organization becomes god, rather than a means of serving God.

User avatar
Palerider
Posts: 2235
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2016 8:44 am

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Palerider » Thu May 04, 2017 11:06 pm

Any of you guys or gals old enough to remember that oft repeated LDS story about the little kid who was born without ears? Then one day the doctors told him that someone was going to donate a set to him.
From the time he got his new ears he never noticed that his mother started wearing her hair differently and only at her funeral did he realize that she had given up her ears for him all those years ago.

A few years back I began to think about that story, did some digging and only then found out that ear transplantation from one individual to another is still not possible. Lots of body rejection problems. Kind of made me start to be a critical thinker on all those kinds of stories.
"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily."

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light."

George Washington

User avatar
moksha
Posts: 5050
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 4:22 am

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by moksha » Fri May 05, 2017 12:00 am

Palerider wrote:
Thu May 04, 2017 11:06 pm
A few years back I began to think about that story, did some digging and only then found out that ear transplantation from one individual to another is still not possible. Lots of body rejection problems. Kind of made me start to be a critical thinker on all those kinds of stories.
Reminds me of the old Paul H. Dunn story when he was playing third baseman with Babe Ruth and Charles Barkley for the San Diego Chargers back in 1936. One day he was driving along the coast highway after practice and rescued an entire family whose car had plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. Later on the oldest son of those rescued lead the heroic Charge of the Light Brigade during the War of the Roses in Pasadena.
Good faith does not require evidence, but it also does not turn a blind eye to that evidence. Otherwise, it becomes misplaced faith.
-- Moksha

User avatar
Palerider
Posts: 2235
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2016 8:44 am

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Palerider » Fri May 05, 2017 9:20 am

The critical part of a church story:

Does it make you go "Ahhuhhuh....."

How important is the truth of the story? Meh...not so much....
"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily."

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light."

George Washington

User avatar
Mad Jax
Posts: 502
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:55 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Mad Jax » Sat May 06, 2017 2:24 pm

Palerider wrote:
Thu May 04, 2017 11:06 pm
Any of you guys or gals old enough to remember that oft repeated LDS story about the little kid who was born without ears? Then one day the doctors told him that someone was going to donate a set to him.
From the time he got his new ears he never noticed that his mother started wearing her hair differently and only at her funeral did he realize that she had given up her ears for him all those years ago.

A few years back I began to think about that story, did some digging and only then found out that ear transplantation from one individual to another is still not possible. Lots of body rejection problems. Kind of made me start to be a critical thinker on all those kinds of stories.
This was an off repeated story? There's a gold mine of weird to be had from you guys.
Free will is a golden thread flowing through the matrix of fixed events.

User avatar
Palerider
Posts: 2235
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2016 8:44 am

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Palerider » Sat May 06, 2017 3:18 pm

Mad Jax wrote:
Sat May 06, 2017 2:24 pm
Palerider wrote:
Thu May 04, 2017 11:06 pm
Any of you guys or gals old enough to remember that oft repeated LDS story about the little kid who was born without ears? Then one day the doctors told him that someone was going to donate a set to him.
From the time he got his new ears he never noticed that his mother started wearing her hair differently and only at her funeral did he realize that she had given up her ears for him all those years ago.

A few years back I began to think about that story, did some digging and only then found out that ear transplantation from one individual to another is still not possible. Lots of body rejection problems. Kind of made me start to be a critical thinker on all those kinds of stories.
This was an off repeated story? There's a gold mine of weird to be had from you guys.
Yeah, this would have been early 1960's. Haven't heard it since then. Somebody probably figured out it was bogus and they stopped telling it.
"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily."

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light."

George Washington

User avatar
Hagoth
Posts: 7075
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 1:13 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Hagoth » Sat May 06, 2017 5:18 pm

Reminds me of Steve Martin's Gift of the Magi parody of the O. Henry story. The husband sells his shinbones to buy cuticle frames for his wife, only to learn that she has sold her lovely cuticles to buy him shinbone wax.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

User avatar
Nonny
Posts: 114
Joined: Wed Apr 05, 2017 3:44 pm
Location: Colorado

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Nonny » Sat May 06, 2017 5:55 pm

Mad Jax wrote:
Sat May 06, 2017 2:24 pm
Palerider wrote:
Thu May 04, 2017 11:06 pm
Any of you guys or gals old enough to remember that oft repeated LDS story about the little kid who was born without ears? Then one day the doctors told him that someone was going to donate a set to him.
From the time he got his new ears he never noticed that his mother started wearing her hair differently and only at her funeral did he realize that she had given up her ears for him all those years ago.

A few years back I began to think about that story, did some digging and only then found out that ear transplantation from one individual to another is still not possible. Lots of body rejection problems. Kind of made me start to be a critical thinker on all those kinds of stories.
This was an off repeated story? There's a gold mine of weird to be had from you guys.
It was probably found in that beloved series "Especially for Mormons" which was popular reference material for youth sacrament meeting talks before correlation took over.

User avatar
Mad Jax
Posts: 502
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:55 pm

Re: Hopi burying weapons??

Post by Mad Jax » Sat May 06, 2017 6:37 pm

It's just so absurd and, if I can be a bit indulgent, might be the result of intelligent people suspending their faculties in order to believe in superstitious nonsense. Made more susceptible, so to speak. I hope that doesn't sound condescending; I'm guilty of having done it as well.
Free will is a golden thread flowing through the matrix of fixed events.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 41 guests