Hopi Summer: Letters from Ethel to Maud

by Carolyn O'Bagy Davis

The true story of a special cross-cultural friendship.

In 1927 Maud Melville, a wealthy New Englander, and Ethel Muchvo, a Hopi potter, struck up a remarkable friendship. Using diaries, letters, and photographs of Ethel and Maud, biographer and historian Carolyn O'Bagy Davis delves into the touching relationship that blossomed between two very different women over many years of triumphs and sorrows. The story of Ethel and Maud also documents a bygone time in Native American history, a "Hopi summer" before wrenching change came to the traditional Pueblo world of the Hopi. 60 b/w photos.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hopi/Anglo interaction before it was easy to get to the mesas (starting in 1927). Excruciating portrait of how hard life was for the Indians. Though I don't think they would have agreed, by the end I really felt the anglo "friends" were exploiting as well as helping. I love the book until about 1/2 way thru, then it just made me sad.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 I thought the idea of a road trip around the US in 1927 was quite ambitious AND it was completed! I liked how the story was told because if it was the actual letters I might have tossed the book mid way through the first letter. I'm glad for sticking it out and learning more about the Hopi and how the missionaries tried to completely destroy these people with their Christian ways.

[Laura Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly interesting. The title is a bit misleading, as there are really only a few fragments of the letters included in the book, and is mostly the author's own conclusions.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a way, this book only has only half of the story, since Maud's letters to Ethel did not survive. It would have been interesting to compare the different trajectories of their lives after their brief meeting in the summer of 1927. The life of a New England college professor's wife was so very different than that of a Hopi potter's stark struggle to survive.
The book starts with a description of the tough cross country trek of Maud, her husband Cary and their young children in a Model T Ford on rudimentary roads. They camped out in a tent and battled mud, flat tires and the elements. Perhaps this experience helped Maud relate to Ethel's hardscrabble life.
But,Maud also became fascinated with the rich and ancient culture of the Hopis, an interest that lasted the rest of her life and which she shared with friends and associates through her collection of Hopi art and photos. After the trip out West, we only have a few glimpses of Maud's life.
Through Ethel's letters, however, we learn of daily life for the Hopis who cling to traditions, but are losing the ability to live off the land as they have for centuries. They depend upon the sale of their pottery, Kachinas and other cultural handicrafts to tourists and outsiders. They also rely to some extent on missionaries, whose ulterior motive is to convert them from their ancient beliefs to Christianity. It is not only the elements that make life difficult for the Hopi, but illnesses brought by outsiders. Ethel's letters tell of coping with a husband weakened by tuberculosis and the death of children. They also reveal her fortitude and her joy with a new baby that she hopes will survive.
The book is a window to another time and place, a time of transition and struggles. It is tempting to think of it as something that happened in the past; yet the transitions and struggles are still taking place on the Hopi Mesas today,and the gap between cultures has only widened with the passage of time. This is a touching story of two women who reach across the gap and enrich each others' lives.

[Miz Lizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the 1920s Maud takes a year-long car trip with her husband and teenage children around the perimeter of the United States. At a stop in Arizona at the Hopi reservation, Maud meets Ethel, a Hopi potter, and falls in love with the southwest and Hopi arts and culture. The two women become friends and maintain a correspondence and a sort of economic interdependence for years -- Ethel sells and gives packages of her pottery and traditional food to Maud who gives lectures back east on Hopi culture; Maud sends a camera and film (with requests for pictures to be taken), old clothes, and money that sustains Ethel through years of hardship. I had anticipated the book including the letters of Ethel and Maud but was disappointed to discover that only Ethel's letters are extant. The slight book consists of a summary of Maud's journal of the car trip when the women first met and of Ethel's letters through the years. Though the author talked to Hopi people who remember Ethel and the incidents in the book, she adds little in the way of oral histories or historical context or even academic or cultural analysis beyond a generality here or there. As such the book is of some slight interest but is overall rather dull and adds little insight. I would rather have read the original manuscript documents myself but the book does have some value in at least providing an overview of those documents.

[Alix · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid 3.5 stars.

I saw this book at the library and was intrigued by the idea of a family's road trip around the US in 1927 that included the Arizona country and other areas in the Western US. The book explores a friendship - between a white woman from New England and a Hopi woman from Arizona - that developed because of this journey.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of this book, which provided details on the Melville's travels (along with pictures of their Model T loaded down), much better than the latter that was merely a restating of letters sent over the years between the two women.

If you're interested in learning more about the Native American culture - and especially the difficult early 20th Century period, this book is worth the time. I felt that the author, Ms. Davis, respectfully handled some of the more delicate topics (Indian Schools, christianization of the native people, etc.) from the white person's interactions with the Native People.

[Meaghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just never really cared for any of the characters I guess. The only thing I ever felt bad for were the eagles. I felt like there were three things that happened throughout the book and no matter what page you were on, they were talking about either:
1) A bad harvest
2) Someone needed something, please send
3) Someone was sick and/or dying/died

The missionaries were beyond annoying and I got sick the instant they were around.

I don't think the author did an overally good job organizing her thoughts. If she had, this book had a lot more potential.

[Judy Evenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1927 a family takes an auto trip around the USA. In Hopi Land in northern AZ, they stay a week with the Hopi and a friendship begins between Ethel (Hopi) and Maud (traveler). The book is written based on the letters between the two women over the next decade. Not as good as I thought it might be... and the REAL story would have been the auto trip in those days along with 3 kids in tow. Wouldn't recommend unless a desire for more knowledge of the HOpi in the early 20th century.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Some interesting bits of history but the way the info was put together made me kind of bored. I'm rating a 3 because if nothing else, the "missionaries" left quite an impression on me; irritation. I think they had no business being there trying to convert these people. I also don't think the friendship between Ethel & Maud was genuine. I'm sure it was for Ethel, but I think Maud exploited her.

[Arlene Eisenbise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The culture of these two women could not have been much farther apart. They met in an unlikely place and time and carried on an exchange for years. Each lived a lifetime of Service to Others rather than one of Service to Self. They were shining examples of what it truly means to be aware of the needs of others and then to provide whatever one could. The author placed me there with her words and photos.

[Tami Parks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book at a Grand Canyon gift store while on vacation. I really enjoyed the first half, about Maud's family and their cross-country trip in 1927, before highways and hotels. The second half bogged down for me. I would have enjoyed reading the actual letters, rather than just the author's narration and excerpts from the letters.

[Jackie Wayman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been on my shelve for a long time, bought after visiting this area years ago. i appreciate this adventure and the effort to write about it. Really inspired me to read abother book I've had for a long time called Book of the Hopi by Frank Walters 1963. Such an amazing people with an incredibly interesting historical and religious view of life.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hopi woman, Ethel, is positive, warm, and loving despite almost daily trials caused by poverty, hunger, and chronic illness. The letters convey her primary concern: looking out for her family. She does so much with very little, and she has endless gratitude for any help she receives.

[Joslins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edited letters between a white woman who visited a Hopi reservation and the Hopi woman she became friends with. While a little bit of background was helpful, there was more than needed and not enough of the actual letters, especially those from the Hopi woman.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter lives in the Phoenix, AZ, area. I saw the book was a ONEBOOKAZ 2011 Winner so I wanted to read it and then pass it on to her. I am intrigued by Native American culture. I thought it was interesting.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was disappointed that there were so few real excerpts from the letters, but the window into the lives of Hopis in the 1920s was a rare view. The book is written simply and includes many photos.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting.

[Alissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't particularly like the book and writing style, but I learned a lot from the content and really enjoyed the conversation it inspired at book club.

[Lilly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, too boring...

[Nancy Rossman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just didn't do it for me. The letters were ... I don't know, not that well organized, didn't have enough link between them, etc.

[Sandy Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Wish I wasn't going to have to miss our bookclub discussion of it. Ethel was an amazing woman!

[Melinda Brasher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting, especially in the first half, and I loved how many pictures were included. I would have liked more detail and context in some sections. The second half got very, very repetitive. I think the author could have lumped some of the letters together, since the content was very similar. There were also several places where the content of a letter was summarized and then quoted. We really didn't need both.

[SEMI SPOILER] Some of the details are very sad…like the missionaries preventing converts from participating in cultural traditions and the part about Ethel having so many children die from tuberculosis transmitted by her husband.

More accurate rating: 3.5 (mostly because of the repetitiveness of the last half)

[kim.through.books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting. We get a slight glimpse into the Hopi tribe's way of life and their traditions. I know this wasn't the exact purpose of the book, but I would have liked more in depth information about the Hopi peoples.

The premise of the book is letters that a Hopi woman (Ethel) wrote to her friend, an Anglo east coast woman (Maud). The letters from Maud to Ethel were never found, so it was a very one sided telling. The letters were very repetitive; Ethel tells about the illness of her husband, she asks for item donations and asks Maud to sell the items she sent. There isn't much variation in correspondence.

But overall it was informational and I learned more about the Hopi tribe than I knew before I read it. It wasn't the center of the book, but the road trip that Maud's family took around the United States would have been really interesting to hear about.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impulse borrow while visiting Pima County Arizona.

I'm glad that the author tried to be respectful of the Hopi people, and that she didn't go all anthropological but rather told a few individual stories. But I also think Maud was more of a White Savior than an actual helpful friend. And the way the missionaries continued the work of the boarding schools, trying to wipe out Hopi cultural traditions, is painful to read about.

[Kitty Monke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this with my Book Club. It would have been interesting to read Maud’s letters to Ethel too. I can’t imagine Ethel’s life of losing all those children mainly because of her husbands illness. What a hard life she lived & yet trudged on.