Mesa Media, Inc.
Hopilavayi pavan öqawi'yta
Keeping Hopi language vibrant
DVD-- Nu’Wuuyoktiqe’e, I Have Grown Up (2010) $15
Mesa Media created a DVD using one of the songs from the first CD, Nu’Wuuyoktiqe’e (I Have Grown Up). In conjunction with the Ishii family, photographs from young Ciyunsi’s grinding ceremony were put to Anita and Ferrell’s song. The DVD recording is 6 minutes long and uses images to help speakers learn the Hopi words and sentences. Anita Poleahla and Ferrell Secakuku wrote the grinding song and Natasa Garic from Northern Arizona University produced the DVD. Hopi and English lyrics accompany the DVD recording.
Nu’ Wunimangwu is an educational DVD intended for children who are learning the Hopi language and cultural traditions. Research shows that the Hopi language is most effectively grasped when learners start at a young age. Most Hopi words and phrases are linked to cultural activities such as dancing, singing, planting crops and preparing foods, thereby making it easier to learn. As children dance and sing, they begin to comprehend the deeper meaning of what they are enacting.
Ferrell Secakuku originally composed the song Nu’ Wunimangwu in 2005, which is recorded on Mesa Media’s CD entitled Learning Through Hopi Songs. This DVD was inspired by the original song that comes directly from traditional Hopi perspectives on dry farming and food. Nu’ Wunimangwu is a social dance song. Hopi children begin participating in social dances at about two to three years of age and continue into adulthood. Men can dance any time. Girls, not women, participate in social dances. Nu’ Wunimangwu features Sikyavensi, a young Hopi girl from Walpi Village on First Mesa. She is Aaswungwa, a member of the Tansy Mustard Clan. When she was a little baby, before a year old and still not walking, her grandmother, Rachel, was holding her on her lap in the kiva. Little Sikyavensi was dancing, jumping and moving her hands and arms as she watched the Katsina dance. Little children usually dance or move when they hear songs. Sikyavensi’s response at this very young age shows how Hopi children are exposed to songs early in life. This is Hopi.
DVD-- Nu’Wunimangqu, I Dance (2010)
DVD—Koona, Hopi Chipmunk (2007) $15
Mesa Media created a DVD using the song Koona (Hopi chipmunk) off of the second CD. In the DVD, Koona is embodied as a puppet and we learn that he is one of the few animals found no where else in the world. Koona is a very special chipmunk who also teaches about Hopi life.
