Life Transitions of Hopi Youth

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Hopi boys at a social dance by Sandra Cosentino

$10 Sedona Public Library 7 - 9 pm Meeting Room 3250 White Bear Road Sedona, Arizona

Hopi girl at a social dance by Sandra Cosentino

To the Hopi an individual goes through multiple life cycles or symbolic life cycles.  With every cycle the individual grows in an number of ways. In this visual presentation, Ramson will discuss a number of topics relating to the development and growth of a child into an adult.  He will also speak on the concept of educating students using traditional values.

Ramson Lomatewama is an eloquent and engaging speaker on Hopi culture in relation to today's world. He is a mentor at the Hopi School and retired adjunct professor of sociology (North Central College, Naperville, Illinois). Ramson is a published poet, cultural anthropology consultant, farmer, and artist who participates in Hopi traditional culture. Ramson is a traditional-style katsina doll carver who has developed a unique contemporary hot glass art based on ancestral images which are a "contemporary expression of Hopi spirit and belief."   He  is a board member and mentor for Hopitutuqaki, The Hopi School, at Hotevila, Arizona (on Third Mesa on the Hopi Indian Reservation) which is dedicated to developing an educational process derived from Hopi Indian philosophy, values and methods:  "Hopi students come from a Hopi environment and culture. They are also part of larger environments and cultures, culminating in world (or Universal) environment and culture. The task of students is to prepare to enter those environments ready and willing to contribute."

For more information:

Sponsored by the Crossing Worlds Hopi Project, which conducts service projects at Hopi and cross-cultural education opportunities since 1999 and

Verde Valley Archaeology Center.  Ramson's Hopi glass art will be on display March 29 - 30 at the Verde Valley Archaeology Fair in Camp Verde.