Sacred Land: Discovering the Beauty of Hopi Country

Sacred Land, the latest offering by Tony Hillerman, was originally written for Arizona Highways, but according to Hillerman they edited the essay so badly it hardly made sense. This is the first book appearance of the original text. The book is a large 8x10 inch format to best present the 26 original drawings by Ernest Franklin, an artist long associated with Tony. Each copy of the limited edition is being literally "handmade": printed by a Navajo shop in Gallup and hand collated. Then hand bound in Phoenix with several deluxe features like colored paper, silver foil stamped binding and custom slipcases. We have never attempted such a lavish production.

Sacred Land is a nonfiction piece about the Hopis, one of the most interesting tribes of Native Americans in the country who inhabit the nation's oldest cities.

Located in the heart of the high desert Southwest, the Hopis live by choice in one of the most desolate locales in the world. Their oldest villages perch on the rims of high, rocky mesas with sheer drops of thousands of feet. Well over a mile high, the Hopi land is bitterly cold in the winter and has a very short growing season. Water is not measured in acre feet, or even gallons, but drops. Springs are sacred places, carefully guarded. There are no trees and limited vegetation.

They were not forced into this inhospitable environment, but selected it with the help of their gods. They consider themselves uniquely chosen people who occupy the Center of the Universe. According to their mythology they are the ancestors of all humankind.

In addition to Tony's text, Franklin's drawing present a unique look at traditional life in the Southwest. None of the drawings were done from photographs and most of them show aspects of Hopi life not usually depicted. Pottery making, rabbit hunting, wood gathering, making piki bread and other behind the scenes views. There are scenes of the famous snake dance and some of the other ceremonial life.

The book also includes an essay by Ernie Bulow describing his first visit to Hopi in 1966 and the effect of seeing the last Snake Dance ever held at the ancient village of Walpi on First Mesa. There is also a bibliography of the best books done on the Hopi for those who are interested in further reading-some of them in the Hopis' own words.

There are one hundred copies of this limited edition, each with an original watercolor drawing by Ernest Franklin. They are available for $250 plus $5 priority shipping.

	Drawing from Book	Example of Limited Edition drawing	Example of Limited Edition drawing