Hopi

Hopi

Havah Berg Mara Dolan Alice Rietz

**The Hopi Mythology**
In the beginning, there was Tawa: the Sun Spirit and the Creator (Leeming, 42). He created the First World out of Endless Space **(** //Tokpella// ). He also created his nephew, Sotuknang, whom he ordered to create the Spider Woman, a messenger for Tawa the Creator (Leeming, 43). Tawa observed as Sotuknang ordered the Spider Woman to make life to inhabit the First World. She sang men and women into creation and instructed them to always worship and remember their Creator, Tawa (Leeming, 43). However, the people in the First World began to forget the Sun Spirit and only quarrelled among themselves. Since they refused to live in harmony, Sotuknang and Tawa came to the decision that this was unacceptable and the First World must be destroyed (Troubled Times, 2010). Sotuknang selected the “chosen people”, the ones who had not forgotten their Creator, and told them that the doors above their heads would take them to safety. The Spider Woman led the people through the doors and into the Second World before the First World was destroyed (Troubled Times, 2010). The Second world was even more beautiful than the first, and the people at first lived in peace and remembered to worship their Creator (Legend of Old, 2010). However, eventually many of them began to forget and fights broke out again. Sotuknang and Tawa once again selected the “chosen people” and kept them safe as they decided how to destroy the Second World. They told the War Twins ( //Anayuta// ), two brothers who lived at the poles on the opposite ends of the World, to leave their posts. The War Twins had opposite personalities, one good and one evil, so that they kept the world in balance. When they left their posts, the world went spinning off it’s axis and out of control into space (Legend of Old, 2010). This is how the Second World was destroyed. Sotuknang instructed the War Twins to resume their positions at the poles, and the Earth was balanced and returned to life once again (Legend of Old, 2010). The “chosen people” were released into this Third World. The people in this world multiplied very quickly and created large cities, countries, and civilizations (Legend of Old, 2010). Many of them saw their own earthly plans as more important than singing praises to the Creator. Tawa saw this advanced civilization that had forgotten him and knew he must destroy it once more (Legend of Old, 2010). The few righteous people that still remembered the Tawa were saved when the Spider Woman created plants and made a giant hollow reed in the sky (the //sipapu// ) (French, 1998). The people climbed up the reed and into the Fourth World as Sotuknang released a great flood into the Third World (Legend of Old, 2010). The people who had climbed the reed emerged in the Grand Canyon (Legend of Old, 2010).

Upon their arrival to this Fourth World, the guardian spirit Masaw gave them four stone tablets(French, 1998). These tablets represented their journey and where they could find their final resting place. Then, the people separated and made large migrations. They would occasionally erect a town but would often abandon it and continue on with the migration. The Hopi would often leave their marks to establish that they had been there. Due to inevitable disagreement, the groups would split, and form separate clans. These clans would further separate and create many groups. However, many of these clans would join back together to form larger groups, yet only to break away again as time went on (Legend of Old, 2010). The people knew they must always worship and remember the Sun Spirit or the Fourth World which they have found a home in may also be destroyed (Leeming, 92).


 * Bibliography**

Anderson, Travis. "About the Hopi." //Restoration//. Restoration, 2010. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. [].

French, Ellen. "Hopi." //The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes//. Ed. Sharon Malinowski and Anna Sheets. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. 121-129. Print. The Gale Encyclopedia.

"Hopi mythology - Wikipedia." //Wikipedia//. Wikipedia, 2010. Web. 5 Nov. 2010. [].

Leeming, David, and Jake Page. //The Mythology of Native North America//. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998. Print.

"New Mexico Office of the State Historian: Hopi Creation." //New Mexico History//. New Mexico Office of the State Historian, 2010. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. [].

"Troubled Times: Hopi Worlds." //Troubled Times//. Legend of Old, n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2010. [].