Hopi mythology
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The Hopi are a tribe of Native Americans located in the southwestern United States.
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[edit] The Goddesses and Gods
The Hopi Mother Earth was symbolized by their Corn Mother, "Spider Woman, Sand Altar Woman, and other female spirits conceived to be the mothers of all living things. This mother is represented in the cult by the sipapuni, the opening in the floor of the underground ceremonial chamber, or kiva, for the sipapuni is the womb of Mother Earth, just as it is the hole through which humankind originally emerged from the underworld" (Hultkrantz 1990: 213-14).
“For traditional Hopis, corn is the central bond. Its essence, physically, spiritually, and symbolically, pervades their existence. For the people of the mesas corn is sustenance, ceremonial object, prayer offering, symbol, and sentient being unto itself. Corn is the Mother in the truest sense that people take in the corn and the corn becomes their flesh, as mother milk becomes the flesh of the child" (Wall 2004).
Traditionally the Hopis saw the goddess Spider Woman as their creator: “The Hopi see Spider Woman as Grandmother of the sun and as the great Medicine Power who sang the people into this fourth world we live in now” (Gunn Allen 1992: 19). Under centuries of pressure by white culture, however, Spider Woman has recently turned male: “The Hopi goddess Spider Woman has become the masculine Maseo or Tawa…” (Gunn Allen 1992: 41).
[edit] Kachinas
Kachinas are supernatural beings who inhabit men’s bodies during part of the year. During Hopi religious ceremonies, the katchinas perform, through the men they reside inside. There are hundreds of different kinds of katchinas – some are human, but many are animals or birds (Dozier 1970: 140).
[edit] References
Dozier, Edward, The Pueblo Indians of North America (Case Studies in Anthropology, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1970).
Gunn Allen, Paula, The Sacred Hoop (Boston: Beacon Press, 1992).
Hultkrantz, Ake, “The Religion of the Goddess in North America,” The Book of the Goddess Past and Present: An Introduction to Her Religion, Carl Olson, editor (New York: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1990).
Wall, Dennis, and Virgil Masayesva, “People of the Corn: Teachings in Hopi Traditional Agriculture, Spirituality, and Sustainability,” American Indian Quarterly, Summer/Fall 2004, Vol. 28, Issue ¾, pp. 435-453.
