The Louis A. Hieb Collection pertains to Hieb's research and study of the Hopi Indians of Arizona. Hieb has taken particular interest in the ritual clowns of the Hopis, as well as the Hopi traditionalist movement. The collection largely consists of Hieb's journal entries and research notes, but it also includes papers and essays, scheduling calendars, copies of articles, copies of government documents, and correspondence.
Collection Number
NAU.MS.245
Language
English.
Repository
Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Department.
Northern Arizona University
Box 6022
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-6022
Phone: 928 523 5551
Fax: 928 523 3770
Email: Special.Collections@nau.edu
Biographical Note
Louis Albert Hieb was born on April 11, 1939, in Carlsbad, New Mexico. He began his lengthy career of involvement in higher education at the age of 18 when he began his undergraduate studies at Grinnell College, which he attended from 1957-1961. Upon receiving his B.A. in sociology, he then proceeded to pursue a Bachelor's degree in religious studies at Yale University, 1961-1965. Subsequently, Hieb attended Rutgers University, earning a Master's degree in library science. Hieb's education culminated in 1968-1972, when he received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Princeton University.
Louis Hieb's years of library experience, incredibly, overshadow his extensive educational pursuits. Hieb worked as a Reference and Acquisitions Librarian in his first library at Princeton Theological Seminary from 1965 to 1968. Taking a ten-year break from library involvement, Hieb earned his Ph.D. and then taught as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University (1972-1978). Following that, his only teaching stint, Hieb returned to the archives as the Head Special Collections Librarian at the University of Arizona, where he worked from 1978-1995. In 1995, Hieb took a position as Director of the Center for Southwest Research at the University of New Mexico library.
Most of Louis Hieb's research and work has revolved around the role of the ritual clown and humor in Hopi ceremonies. Hieb's major publications include his dissertation, "The Hopi Ritual Clown: Life As It Should Not Be" (1972), "Rhythms of Significance: towards a Symbolic Analysis of Dance in Ritual' in New Dimensions in Dance Research: Anthropology and Dance-The American Indian (1974), "The Ritual Clown: Humor and Ethics" in Forms to Play of Native North Americans (1979), and "Masks and Meaning: the Americas (1979). His more recent publications consisted of various bibliographies and commentaries on the works of the writer Tony Hillerman.
Scope and Content Note
The Louis A. Hieb Collection pertains to Hieb's research and study of the Hopi Indians of Arizona. Hieb has taken particular interest in the ritual clowns of the Hopis, as well as the Hopi traditionalist movement. The collection largely consists of Hieb's journal entries and research notes, but it also includes papers and essays, scheduling calendars, copies of articles, copies of government documents, and correspondence.
This collection of papers consists of two boxes of archival materials arranged into three series. Approximately one-third of the collection is composed of Hieb's journal entries from 1969 to 1972. These entries document Hopi ceremonial procedures, costume, clown behavior, interviews, meetings, and other observations made by Hieb while in what he occasionally refers to as "Hopiland." The materials contained therein indicate the subjects to which Hieb's attention was drawn, as well as some very intriguing aspects of Hopi life that are often shielded form Western eyes.
This collection is important because Hieb's research contains valuable insights on the Hopi worldview, life on the reservation, and the uses of humor, which is relevant in a much broader context than simply that of the Hopis. Supplementing the information found in his journals, Hieb's meticulous research notes and essays further elaborate on Hopi traditions and particularly Hopi clowns. Additionally, his documentation on the evolution of the Hopi traditionalist movement provides significant background information critical to understand how and why the movement exists. The remainder of the collection, government documents and correspondence, offer an overview of Hopi land issues and a slight glance into the personal life of Louis Hieb.
The user is required to obtain permission from the Hopi Cultural Preservation office for the reproduction of images and sketches of clowns, kachinas, and ceremonies.
Copyright
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for Northern Arizona University, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.
This subseries consists of 15 folders of journal entries written by Louis Hieb. The journal entries are arranged chronologically. For the minority of entries where dates were not present, the original order has been maintained.
The journal entries contain descriptions and sketches of various Hopi rituals, ceremonies, and clowns, some as described by interviewed individuals, but the majority as observed by Hieb, as well as descriptions of his meetings, his observations regarding the Hopi worldview, and other topics relevant to Hieb's research. The Snake Dance and the Long Hair Dance are just two of the numerous ceremonies described by Hieb.
This subseries consists of three folders arranged broadly by topic. One folder consists of notes about Hopi clown behavior and sketches of clowns. A second folder contains more general information about such things as Hopi words, Hopi Tribal Council member, and Hopi village statistics, such as which villages had electricity, running water, and so on. The third folder in this subseries is composed of Hieb's notes on books and articles by other authors, in addition to several bibliographies.
This subseries consists of one folder within which the calendars are arranged chronologically. They list meetings and ceremonies Hieb was scheduled to attend.
This subseries consists of nine folders arranged chronologically where possible. Most of the papers and essays, however, do not have dates; therefore, these have been placed after those that do. Three of the eight works on this subseries are complete. "The Hopi Traditionalist Movement: A Documentary History, 1948-1971" (folders 21-22), "Meaning and Mismeaning; towards and Understanding of the ritual Clown" (folder 23), and an untitled presentation (folder 26).
"The Hopi Traditionalist Movement" is a particularly important work because of Hieb's skillful use of documentation to trace the movement's origins and evolution. The oldest document in the collection, a reprint of an 1880 letter, is contained here. Although incomplete, part of Hieb's doctoral dissertation, "The Hopi ritual Clown: Life As It Should Not Be," is found in this subseries. A complete copy of this work may be found in Cline Library, Special Collections and Archives, under the call number E99.H7H5 1972a.
Series four is a significant part of the Louis A. Hieb Collection simply because the essays contained therein represent a partial culmination of Hieb's years of study and research among the Hopis.
Box-folder
1.20
"The Hopi Ritual Clown: Life As It Should Not Be," incomplete,
1972.
Box-folder
1.21-1.22
"The Hopi Traditionalist Movement: A Documentary History, 1948-1971,"
, 1977.
Box-folder
1.23
"Meaning and Mismeaning: Towards an Understanding of the Ritual Clown."
,
Subseries five consists of two folders arranged chronologically. The fist of the folders contains an article entitled "The Decline of Oraibi" and is relevant to the Hopi traditionalist movement. The second folder contains various articles connecting UFO sightings around Prescott, Arizona, and Hopi prophecies. Some of Hieb's notes are present in the second folder.
Subseries six consists of one folder that contains two photographs negatives. The negatives are of a carving of a Hopi clown made by Wilfred Tewawina. Both negatives are of the same carving bur from two different perspectives. These photos were included in Hieb's dissertation.
This series consists of seven folders arranged chronologically. The first folder contains a report made to the Indian Office regarding the Hopi-Navajo range problem (1918). In the second folder, the minutes of a Washington, D.C., conference on the extension of Hopi lands is found (1939). The third folder is composed of a variety of documents (correspondence, a congressional bill, grazing forms) concerning the uses of Hopi lands (1969-1972). The final four folders consist of a hearing on H.R. 1193, regarding the partition of the surface rights of Hopi-Navajo lands (1973).
Box-folder
2.32
Hopi-Navajo Range Problem report,
1918.
Box-folder
2.33
Minutes of Washington, D.C., Conference on Hopi Extension Area,
1939.
Box-folder
2.34
Documents concerning the uses of Hopi lands,
1969-1972.
This series consists of two folders, the first for outgoing mail, and the second for incoming, with the items arranged chronologically within each folder.
Approximately one-half of the correspondence is personal; the other half concerns academic matters. Possible letters include a letter with criticism of a draft of Hieb's dissertation and an invitation to write an article for the Handbook of North American Indians.
