American Emergence Myths Air-Spirit People Anasazi bow priests cultural relativism ethnography Hopi people masks in rituals Navajo people Pandora paratactic storytelling petroglyphs powakas Pueblo Indians shape-changers sipapuni Spider Grandmother Swallow People Tawa tricksters Water Spider Zuni people

Oral Myths and Enthography Native American Oral Narrative http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/colonial/native_nar.html A living oral tradition Emphasis on oral performance and ritual Cultural relativism Ethnographers: Harold Courlander (Hopi, 1971) Ruth Fulton Benedict (Zuni) Paul Zolbrod (Navajo)

Native American World View Hozho = Navajo principle of harmony and order. Union with nature The world not as a place of punishment but as a place for fulfillment of destiny Zuni Harmony with the Cosmos http://www.cliftonunitarian.com/toddstalks/religionofzuni.htm Native American Myths in Brief http://www.livingmyths.com/Nativesum.htm

Anasazi = Ancient People = “Enemy Ancestors” in Navajo a Pueblo people Ancestors of Hopi and Zuni Mesa Verde (Colorado)

The Zuni People

Zuni Emergence Myths Four Worlds (vertical orientation) Four Compass Directions (horizontal orientation) Four Trees pine spruce silver spruce aspen

Trees in Creation Stories http://www.the-tree.org.uk/Sacred%20Grove/creationstories.htm Tree of Life Tree of Knowledge World Tree http://ascension2000.com/ConvergenceIII/c315.htm

Zuni Zuni Genesis http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/063.html Zuni Origin Myth http://www4.hmc.edu:8001/humanities/beckman/western/zuni.htm Zuni Harmony with the Cosmos http://www.cliftonunitarian.com/toddstalks/religionofzuni.htm Zuni snake priest

Zuni Hero Twins Ko'wituma (Elder Brother) leads the Younger Brother (Wats'usi) Zuni Twins http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/NAANTH/ZTWINGOD.HTM Hero Twins http://www.angelfire.com/trek/archaeology/twins.html

Prayerstick Huichol Huichol Prayerstick

Bow Priests Emblem of Bow Priest society http://www.heard.org/rain/prints/bopriest.html

Corn Itsumawe = “to increase by magic” Zuni corn maiden fetishes made of antler)

Twins as Creators Metamorphosis of humans originally insect-like gradual evolution loss of animal features (webbed fingers, tails and horns)

Water Spider as helper MIGRATION Finding the Middle (Halona)

Hopi Emergence Myth http://www.hopi.nsn.us/emergence.asp The Fourth World of the Hopis (by Harold Courlander, 1971) http://www.bsu.edu/classes/magrath/205resources/hopi.html Similarities to Zuni: Spider Grandmother as helper Insect creatures evolve Ritual of corn Migration of the peoples

Hopi Sipapuni This spot is thought by some to be Sipapu, entrance to the Hopi Underworld. It is a sacred place of pilgrimage for the Hopi, at the bottom of the Canyon of the Little Colorado above its junction with the Colorado River. Copyright © 1974. The Arizona Board of Regents.

Myth and Ritual A kiva at Mesa Verde with sipapuni.

Coyote: Another Hopi Helper Daniel O Stope. Coyote Howling at the Moon

The Navajo Nation Descendants of the Athapaskan, not the Anasazi

Navajo Terms hozho = Overarching principle of harmony and order. K'e (prefix in spoken Navajo = universal harmony) Diné: 1) diyin kine'i = supernaturals, holy people; Creators of humans 2) nihokaa dine'e = earth surface people, naturals. Ana'i = non-Navajo. Various kinds of non-Navajo. 3. Diné bahané = Navajo creation story   Navajo Creation Myth: Nílch'i dine'é = Air-Spirit People Swallow People / Yellow Grasshopper People Kiis'áanii = People Who Live in Upright Houses (Pueblo communities?) Haashich'ééh dine'é = Holy People Talking God Áltsé hastiin = First Man / Áltsé asdz´q´q = First Woman Bilagáana = White Man

FOUR WORLDS OF THE NAVAJO First/Black World Second/Blue World Third/Yellow World Fourth/ Black and White World

THE FOUR DIRECTIONS OF THE NAVAJO East: This is the direction of the dawn and it is our thinking direction. We should first think before we do anything. When the sun comes up, we look to the... South: This is our planning direction where we plan what we are going to do. The sun sets in the... West: This is our life, and is where we do our living. Here is where we act out our plan and our thoughts of the east and south directions of our lives. The sun goes down in the. North: North: This is the evaluation portion of our lives. This is where we get our satisfaction and we evaluate the outcome of what we first started in the east. Here is where we determine to change things to make it better, or to see we are on the right path and should continue the cycle.

Navajo Sacred Mountains The Navajos belief is that their Creator placed them on the land between the following 4 mountains representing the 4 cardinal directions: Mount Blanca (Tsisnaasjini' - Dawn or White Shell Mountain) Sacred Mountain of the East (near Alamosa in San Luis Valley, Colorado) Mount Taylor (Tsoodzil - Blue Bead or Turquoise Mountain) Sacred Mountain of the South (north of Laguna, New Mexico) San Francisco Peaks (Doko'oosliid - Abalone Shell Mountain) Sacred Mountain of the West (near Flagstaff, Arizona) Mount Hesperus Dibé Nitsaa (Big Mountain Sheep) - Obsidian Mountain Sacred Mountain of the North (La Plata Mountains, Colorado) http://www.lapahie.com/Sacred_Mts.cfm

Mount Blanca (East)

Mount Taylor (South)

San Francisco Peak (West)

Mount Hesperus (North)

Diné bahané Similarities to Zuni and Hopi Four worlds original humans are insects Vertical movement search for sipapuni Differences Air-spirit people fly rather than climb Air-spirit people are expelled for their sins Need for Hozho Navajo Creation Story by Joe Ben Jr

Kiis'áanii = People Who Live in Upright Houses

Creation of Humans diyin kine'i = supernaturals, holy people These supernaturals create humans from two ears of corn Male (white corn) Woman (yellow corn) (metamorphosis) Note birth of TWINS Aetiology of masks Two supernatural holy people flank the sacred maize plant on this 19th Navajo ceremonial blanket.

American Emergence Myths Air-Spirit People Anasazi bow priests cultural relativism ethnography Hopi people masks in rituals Navajo people paratactic storytelling Pueblo Indians sipapuni Spider Grandmother tricksters Water Spider Zuni people Add: Harold Courlander Ruth Fulton Benedict Paul Zolbrod Mesa Verde hozho Twins Trees itsumawe