Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/529

 HOPITAL

469

HOPITAL

forms, bearing out the tradition that the Hopi were originally a confederation of distinct tribes. They have many secret societies, with a well-organized priesthood, and a spectacular ritual. Living in an arid region, yet depending upon agriculture, their prayers are naturally addressed chiefly to the rain gods, of whom the snakes are the messengers. The celebrated Snake Dance, held once in two years by the initiates of the Snake Society, is intended as a pro- pitiation to bring rain upon tlie crops. A principal feature of this ceremony is the carrying of living and venomous snakes in the mouths of the dancers. Elaborate masks of mythologic significance are worn in most of the dances, and many of them take place in underground chambers known as kivas. Monogamy

is the rule and the woman is the mis- tress of the house. In person, the Hopi are of me- dium stature, but st rongly built and of great endur- ance. Several al- binos of blond skin with light hair and eyes are found among them. They may have numbered at one time (iOOO souls, liut by wars and frequent epidem- ics are now re- duced to about 2200, of whom nearly one-half dwell in Oraibi pueblo

The first white men to make ac- Hopi M.uDEN quaintance with

the Hopi were a detachment from Coronado's expedi- tion in 1540, accompanied by the Franciscan Father JuandePadilla, afterwards murdered while preaching to the wild tribes of the plains. They were visited by Espejo in 15S:S, at which time they occupied five pueblns. In 1.59S, they were brought regularly under Spanish authority by Governor Oiiate of New Mexico, who appointed a priest to take charge of their spir- itual welfare, but no regular mission was attempted in the tribe until 1629, when the mission of San Bernardino was established at Awdtobi by a party of four Franciscans headed by Father Francisco de Porras. Other missions were founded later at Shon- gopovi (San Bartolom^) and Oraibi (San Francisco) with visilas at Walpi and Mishongnovi. The mis- sions sustained an uncertain existence until the great revolt of the Pueblos in 16S0, when the four resident missionaries were killed and the churches destroyed. The rising was put down twelve years later, but no attempt was made to re-establish the Hopi missions, excepting at Awitobi, with 800 souls, which was visited in the spring of 1700 by Father Juan Garay- coechea, at the request of the inhabitants, but with- out permanent result. Later in the same year, on account of the evident friendship of Awiltobi for the missionaries, the warriors of the other pueblos attacked it by night, setting fire to the pueblo, slaughtering all the men, many of whom were smothered in under- ground chambers, and carrying off all the women and children to be distributed among the other pueblns. Awdtobi can still be traced in its ruins, including the walls of the old church. In 1726 permission was given to the Jesuits to undertake work in the tribe, but with no result, and in 1745 the field was again given over to the Franciscans, with as little success, the

Hopi stubbornly refusing to allow the establishment of a mission.

In 1778-1780 a three years drought with conse- quent famine and pestilence, almost extinguished the tribe for a time, the survivors scattering among the neighbouring tribes but still steadfastly refusing any help from the Spaniards. In 18.50 they sent a dele- gation to the newly arrived representative of the American Government at Santa Fe, and in 1858 an American expedition under Lieutenant J. C. Ives visited their towns. In 1869 they were brought under agency control. While uniformly friendly to the Americans, they retain the old hatred for the Spaniards and their Mexican descendants, and, despite schools and some more recent evangelizing effort, hold fast to their ancient beliefs and ceremonies. In 1899, after an absence of a century and a quarter, visiting Franciscans from the Navaho mission were allowed to celebrate Mass in public near Walpi with- out molestation. In 1909 the resident Mennonite missionaries were obliged to withdraw from Oraibi on account of the hostility of the conservatives.

Vetancurt, Cronica de la FwvLncia del Saj\to Evangelio de Mexico (Mexico, 1697; reprint. Mexico, 1871); Bancroft, History of Angaria and New Mexico (vol. XVII of collected works, San Francisco. 1.SS9); Bourke. The Snake Dance of the Moquis (New York, 1SS4}. For ceremonial and general eth- nology of the Hopi the first authority is Fewkes, in numerous monographs and shorter papers, notably his Journal of Am. Etkn. and Archeeology (4 vols., Boston, 1.S91-4), of which all but the first are almost entirely devoted to the Hopi, also his Hopi Katcinas, Tusai/an Flute and Snake Ceremonies, etc. in the an- nual reports (15th. 16th. 19th, 21st. 22nil) of the Bureau of Am. Ethnology (Washington, 1897-190:1): see also papers by DoRSEY and \'OTH. in publications of the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago.

James Mooney.

Hopital, GuiLLAUME-FnANfOIS-ANTOINE DE L',

Marquis de Sainte-Mesme and Comte d'Entremont, French mathematician; b. at Paris, 1661 ; d. at Paris, 2 February, 1704. Being the son of the lieutenant- general of the king's armies he was intended for a mili- tary career, and served for some time as captain in a cavalry regiment. He had no talent for Latin, but early displayed extraordinary ability for mathematics. At the age of fifteen he had solved a number of prob- lems proposed by Pascal, and while an army officer, he studied mathematics in his tent. Owing to extreme near-sightedness, he was forced to resign and then de- voted himself entirely to his favourite studies. In 1692 he became acquainted with Jean Bernoulli, one of the three or four men of the day who understood the new methods of the differential calculus. During four months he studied with Bernoulli, whom he had in- vited to his estate of Oucques near Vendome, and learned from him this branch of the science of numbers. In 1693 he was elected honorary member of the Acad- emy of Sciences of Paris and soon rivalled Newton, Huyghens, Leibniz, and the Bernoullis in the pro- pounding and solving of problems involving the cal- culus. He is remembered because he made it possible for others to learn this new system. His work on the analysis of the infinitesimal for the study of curves was published in 1696 and was received with great satisfaction by many who were trying to solve the mystery surrounding these advanced problems, for the book contained a clear and careful exposition of the methods employed. The rule for the evaluation of a fraction whose numerator and denominator both have a Urait value of zero is named after L'Hopital. His wife is said to have been associated with him in his work. His published works are: "Analyse des infiniment petits pour I'int^lligence des lignes courbes" (Paris, 1696; lasted, by Lefevre, Paris, 1781); " Traits anal- ytique des sections coniques" (Paris, 1707; 2nd ed., 1720); several memoirs and notes inserted in the " Reeueil de I'Acad^mie des sciences" (Paris, 1699- 1701), and in "Acta Eruditorum" (Leipzig, 1693- 1699).