Stability and Variation in the Hopi Song

The Hopi are the westernmost group of the Pueblo Indians of the southwestern U.S. They live on a high, dry plateau in northern Arizona, and have been a sedentary, agricultural people. This study establishes the stylistic parameters of song in a particular culture. Author List determines what is meant when a Hopi person states that two or more performances are those of the same song. To what extent can speech sounds, pitches, and durational values, or the forms of which they are the constituents, differ and the performances still be considered to be those of the same song? List transcribed and compared 8 recordings of performances of a particular kachina dance song and 11 recordings of performance of a particular lullaby, made from 1903 to 1984. Illus.