american emergence myths air-spirit people anasazi bow priests cultural relativism ethnography hopi...
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American Emergence MythsAir-Spirit PeopleAnasazibow priestscultural relativismethnographyHopi peoplemasks in ritualsNavajo peoplePandoraparatactic storytellingpetroglyphspowakasPueblo Indiansshape-changerssipapuniSpider GrandmotherSwallow PeopleTawa trickstersWater SpiderZuni people
Oral Myths and Enthography
Native American Oral Narrativehttp://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 Cosmoshttp://www.cliftonunitarian.com/toddstalks/religionofzuni.htm
Native American Myths in Briefhttp://www.livingmyths.com/Nativesum.htm
Anasazi = Ancient People
Mesa Verde (Colorado)
= “Enemy Ancestors” in Navajo
a Pueblo people
Ancestors of Hopi and Zuni
The Zuni People
Zuni Emergence Myths
• Four Worlds (vertical orientation)
• Four Compass Directions (horizontal orientation)
• Four Treespinesprucesilver spruceaspen
Trees in Creation Stories
http://www.the-tree.org.uk/Sacred%20Grove/creationstories.htm
Tree of Life
Tree of Knowledge
World Treehttp://ascension2000.com/ConvergenceIII/c315.htm
Zuni
Zuni Genesis http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/063.html
Zuni Origin Mythhttp://www4.hmc.edu:8001/humanities/beckman/western/zuni.htm
Zuni Harmony with the Cosmoshttp://www.cliftonunitarian.com/toddstalks/religionofzuni.htm
Zuni snake priest
Zuni Hero Twins
Ko'wituma (Elder Brother) leads the Younger Brother (Wats'usi)
Zuni Twinshttp://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/NAANTH/ZTWINGOD.HTM
Hero Twinshttp://www.angelfire.com/trek/archaeology/twins.html
Prayerstick
Huichol Prayerstick
Huichol
Bow Priests
Emblem of Bow Priest societyhttp://www.heard.org/rain/prints/bopriest.html
Corn
Zuni corn maiden fetishes made of antler)
Itsumawe =
“to increase by magic”
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 Mythhttp://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 helperInsect creatures evolveRitual of cornMigration 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 Termshozho = 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 PeopleSwallow People / Yellow Grasshopper PeopleKiis'áanii = People Who Live in Upright Houses (Pueblo communities?)Haashich'ééh dine'é = Holy PeopleTalking GodÁltsé hastiin = First Man / Áltsé asdz´q´q = First WomanBilagáana = 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 MountainSacred Mountain of the North (La Plata Mountains, Colorado)
http://www.lapahie.com/Sacred_Mts.cfm
San Francisco Peak (West)
Diné bahané
Similarities to Zuni and Hopi
Four worldsoriginal humans are insectsVertical movementsearch 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 cornMale (white corn)Woman (yellow corn)(metamorphosis)
Note birth of TWINSAetiology of masks
Two supernatural holy peopleflank the sacred maize plant on this 19th Navajo ceremonial blanket.
American Emergence MythsAir-Spirit PeopleAnasazibow priestscultural relativismethnographyHopi peoplemasks in ritualsNavajo peopleparatactic storytellingPueblo IndianssipapuniSpider GrandmothertrickstersWater SpiderZuni people
Add:Harold CourlanderRuth Fulton BenedictPaul ZolbrodMesa VerdehozhoTwinsTreesitsumawe