Helen Sekaquaptewa

Helen Sekaquaptewa (1898–1990), was a Hopi Mormon homemaker, matriarch and storyteller, best known for her as-told-to memoir, Me and Mine: The Life Story of Helen Sekaquaptewa, which was compiled by her friend Louise Udall based on Sekaquaptewa's recollections.

Life Helen Sekaquaptewa was born in the Hopi village of Oraibi into the "Hostiles", a Hopi faction who fought against colonial assimilation. After the faction was ousted from Oraibi, she was forced to attend a Native American boarding school. When she returned after high-school, Sekaquaptewa rejected her family's traditionalist Hopi values and married her husband, Emory, in order to live biculturally. They married in 1919, with both a traditional Hopi and a Christian marriage ceremony. Settling down in Hotevilla, Emory became a tribal judge while Helen involved herself in social welfare work and community building. In 1951, after being taught by Elders she had come into contact with as a result of her son Abbott's hospitalization the year prior, she converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Following her conversion, she became highly active in the Relief Society.

Me and Mine: The Life Story of Helen Sekaquaptewa Sekaquaptewa first met Louise Udall after moving to Phoenix, Arizona to further her children's education. Sekaquaptewa and Udall became friends through the Relief Society, and Udall would write down the stories Helen told her about her life.

Legacy In 2004, Sekaquaptewa was included in the fifth volume of Notable American Women. In 2013, she was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame. Her daughter, Marlene, was an influential Hopi tribal leader. Her son, Emory, was a Hopi anthropologist known for his contributions to the first Hopi language dictionary.