Hopi Cultural Center Planting Day Sunday on Second Mesa
Educational and hands-on event to focus on Hopi farming

Children learn planting techniques at last year’s Planting Day at the Hopi Cultural Center on Second Mesa, Ariz.

Children learn planting techniques at last year’s Planting Day at the Hopi Cultural Center on Second Mesa, Ariz.

SECOND MESA, Ariz. - The Hopi Cultural Center presents Planting Day Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Hopi Cultural Center on Second Mesa, Ariz.

Hopi Planting Day is an educational and hands-on event focused on Hopi farming, an ancient tradition that continues to the present day.

Hannah Honani from the Hopi Cultural Center said Stanford Lomakema will be on site to discuss the significance and symbolism of Hopi farming.

For the Hopi, the colors of corn have significance and the time of year they plant the corn is significant.

"We only use the blue ones for eating but the other ones are used for different ceremonies throughout the year," Honani said. "And they also represent the different directions that the Hopi have, which are not necessarily north, south, east, west."

Interested individuals will have the opportunity to participate in the techniques of the actual planting of corn, watermelon and beans.

Honani says planting day has meaning that goes on throughout the year and through different ceremonies.

"One of our biggest values out on the reservation before money reached us, our main source of income was corn to feed our families," Honani said. "And we learned to take care of it like it was one of our children. You have to take care of it and water it and feed it."

She added, "The planting also makes a connection to why we pray for things, like praying for rain, we are caretakers of the land, as well, so that is how we take care of mother earth."

More information about this event is available from Hannah Honani at (928) 206-9463 or explorehopi@hopiculturalcenter.com

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