After analyzing the text that was presented above I came to the conclusion that the main point of view is that the Spaniards were trying to change the religion of the Hopi people.
This is apparent because from the beginning the Spaniards started building missions making the people believe that the priests were the saviors.
found in paragraph #4
“"The missionary did not like the ceremonies. He did not like the Kachinas and he destroyed the altars and the customs. He called it idol worship and burned up all the ceremonial things in the plaza.”
found in paragraph #7
"When this mission was finally built, all the people in the village had to come there to worship, and those that did not come were punished severely. In that way their own religion was altogether wiped out, because they were not allowed to worship in their own way."
I
hope this helps, Regards.
The storyteller uses words such as First Mesa Bahana, Kachinas, and pahos to narrate “How the Spaniards Came to Shung-opovi, How They Built a Mission, and How the Hopi Destroyed the Mission.” Only the Hopi would understand these terms, so the reader can conclude that the story is intended for other Hopi people.
The purpose of the Hopi story is to tell the audience about cultural conflicts between Europeans and American Indians during the colonial period. Perhaps the story is meant to warn or inform other Hopi people about their relations with the foreign colonists. The following excerpt from the story tells how the Europeans mistreated the Hopi:
If any man gave out on the way he was simply left to die. There was great suffering. Some died for lack of food and water, while others developed scabs and sores on their bodies.
It took a good many years for them to get enough beams to Shung-opovi to build the mission. When this mission was finally built, all the people in the village had to come there to worship, and those that did not come were punished severely.
