Tuba (Chief) - Tuba's Youth

Tuba's Youth

Tuba was born in Oraibi, Arizona as a member of the Short Corn Clan, or possibly the Pumpkin Clan. Hopi tradition does not record his birth name, but he was related to a Mormon missionary that said his Hopi name was "Woo Pah."

Tuba related to this same missionary that during the Mexican-American War (c. 1846), the Mexicans were in full retreat from the environs of the Hopi mesas. However, as they left they caused considerable trouble for the Hopis, and in fact one tried to steal a beautiful girl from Oraibi to take south with him. Apparently, Tuba's brother challenged the Mexican interloper to a kind of duel, and the pair fought with bowie knives in the village plaza. Tuba's brother was killed, but Tuba stepped in and killed the Mexican with a spear. This story seems of doubtful historical accuracy for several reasons. Among them, the story recounts that Tuba was eighteen years old when the duel occurred although he would have been in his mid-thirties at the time of the Mexican-American War.

Whatever the case may be, Hopi tradition tells that at some point, Tuba became involved in an unremembered dissension at Oraibi, and left the village to "be at peace." From then on, "Woo Pah" was known among the Hopi as Tuuvi, meaning the outcast or the rejected one.