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Spider Grandmother
Spider Grandmother ( Hopi ''Kokyangwuti'', Navajo ''Na'ashjé'ii Asdzáá'') is an important figure in the mythology, oral traditions and folklore of many Native American cultures, especially in the Southwestern United States. Southwest Hopi Mythology In Hopi mythology, "Spider Grandmother" ( Hopi ''Kokyangwuti'')Spider Woman Stories, published by The University of Arizona Press, 1979. also called "Gogyeng Sowuhti" among many other names can take the shape of an old, or timeless woman or the shape of a common spider in many Hopi stories. When she is in her spider shape, she lives underground in a hole that is like a Kiva. When she is called upon, she will help people in many ways, such as giving advice or providing medicinal cures. "Spider Grandmother" is seen as a leader, a wise individual who represents good things. Creation Stories = First Tale = This story begins with Tawa (the sun god) and Spider Woman (Spider Grandmother) who is identified with the Earth Goddess. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hopi Language
Hopi (Hopi: ) is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Hopi people (a Puebloan group) of northeastern Arizona, United States. The use of Hopi has gradually declined over the course of the 20th century. In 1990, it was estimated that more than 5,000 people could speak Hopi as a native language (approximately 75% of the population), but only 40 of them were monolingual in Hopi. The 1998 language survey of 200 Hopi people showed that 100% of Hopi elders (60 years or older) were fluent, but fluency in adults (40–59) was only 84%, 50% in young adults (20–39), and 5% in children (2–19). Despite the apparent decline, Hopi and Navajo both are supported by bilingual education programs in Arizona, and children acquire the Native American languages as their first language. And more recently, Hopi language programs for children on the reservation have been implemented. Teaching and language revitalization efforts Many Hopi children are being raised in the language. A comprehensive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Navajo Mythology
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States; additionally, the Navajo Nation has the largest reservation in the country. The reservation straddles the Four Corners region and covers more than 27,325 square miles (70,000 square km) of land in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. The Navajo Reservation is slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. The Navajo language is spoken throughout the region, and most Navajos also speak English. The states with the largest Navajo populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (108,306). More than three-fourths of the enrolled Navajo population resides in these two states. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Goddess Of Teotihuacan
The Great Goddess of Teotihuacan (or Teotihuacan Spider Woman) is a proposed goddess of the pre-Columbian Teotihuacan civilization (ca. 100 BCE - 700 CE), in what is now Mexico. Discovery and interpretation In years leading up to 1942, a series of murals were found in the Tepantitla compound in Teotihuacan. The Tepantitla compound provided housing for what appears to have been high status citizens and its walls (as well as much of Teotihuacan) are adorned with brightly painted frescoes. The largest figures within the murals depicted complex and ornate deities or supernaturals. In 1942, archaeologist Alfonso Caso identified these central figures as a Teotihuacan equivalent of Tlaloc, the Mesoamerican god of rain and warfare. This was the consensus view for some 30 years. In 1974, Peter Furst suggested that the murals instead showed a ''feminine'' deity, an interpretation echoed by researcher Esther Pasztory. Their analysis of the murals was based on a number of factors inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is known today as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas, namely Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the first millennium (1 CE to 500 CE), Teotihuacan was the largest city in the Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more, making it at least the sixth-largest city in the world during its epoch. The city covered eight square miles (21 km2), and 80 to 90 percent of the total population of the valley resided in Teotihuacan. Apart from the pyramids, Teotihuacan is also anthropologically significant for its complex, multi-family residential compounds, the Avenue of the Dead, and its vibrant, well-prese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Taube
Karl Andreas Taube (born September 14, 1957) is an American Mesoamericanist, Mayanist, iconographer and ethnohistorian, known for his publications and research into the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and the American Southwest. he holds a position as Professor of Anthropology at the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, University of California, Riverside.Board of Regents, UC (2006) In 2008 he was named the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences distinguished lecturer. Family Background Karl Taube's father, Canadian-born Henry Taube (d. 2005), whose parents were ethnic Germans, was the recipient of the 1983 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Education Taube commenced his undergraduate education at Stanford, relocating to Berkeley where he completed a B.A. in Anthropology in 1980. His graduate studies were undertaken in Anthropology at Yale, where he completed his Masters degree in 1983 and was awarded his Doctorate in 1988. At Yale, Taube studied u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keres People
The Keres people are one of the Pueblo peoples. They speak English, Keresan languages, and in one pueblo Keresan Sign Language. The seven Keres pueblos are: * Cochiti Pueblo or Kotyit ("Forgotten"); Cochiti Pueblo people: Kʾúutìimʾé ("People from the Mountains, i.e. Cochiti people") * San Felipe Pueblo or Katishtya (People down by the river ”The place where the White Shells are”) * Kewa Pueblo (previously ''Santo Domingo'') or Díiwʾi; Kewa Pueblo people: Dîiwʾamʾé * Zia Pueblo or Tsi'ya (Tsia) ("Sun Symbol"); Zia Pueblo people: Tsʾíiyʾamʾé * Santa Ana Pueblo or Tamaiya (Dámáyá); Santa Ana Pueblo people: Dámáyámʾé (sing.) or Dámáyàamʾèetrạ (pl.) * Acoma Pueblo or Aak'u (Áakʾuʾé or Haak'u) ("Place That Always Was", better known as "Sky City"); Acoma Pueblo people: Áakʾùumʾé (″Acoma People") * Laguna Pueblo or Kawaika (Kawaik) ("Small Lake"); Laguna Pueblo people: Kʾáwáigamʾé ("People at/from the Small Lake") The western pueblos, A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keresan Languages
Keres (), also Keresan (), is a Native American language, spoken by the Keres Pueblo people in New Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a small language family or a language isolate with several dialects. The varieties of each of the seven Keres pueblos are mutually intelligible with its closest neighbors. There are significant differences between the Western and Eastern groups, which are sometimes counted as separate languages. Family division In 2007, there was an estimate total of 10,670 speakers. * Eastern Keres: total of 4,580 speakers (1990 census) ** Cochiti Pueblo ''Kotyit dialect'': 600 speakers (2007) ** San Felipe Pueblo ''Katishtya dialect'': 2,340 speakers (2007) **Kewa Pueblo (formally Santo Domingo Pueblo) ''Kewa dialect'': 2,850 speakers (2007) ** Zia Pueblo ''Ts'ia dialect'': 500 speakers (2007) ** Santa Ana Pueblo ''Tamaiya dialect'': 390 speakers (2007) * Western Keres: total of 3,391 speakers (1990 census) ** Acoma Pueblo ''Áakʼu dialect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsichtinako
Thought Woman ( Keresan ''Tsichtinako, Tse-che-nako, Sussistanako'') is a mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ... woman or goddess from the origin story of the Acoma Pueblo Indians. Her name was avoided outside of sacred ceremonies, and she would be referred to as Old Spider Woman instead."Some confusion is sometimes created concerning Tse che nako and Old Spider Woman, especially in secular discussions. Kere holy men hesitate to mention Tse che nako's name, especially for purely secular discussions; Thought Woman's name is reserved for use only in sacred ceremonies. In secular discussions and teachings, Tse che nako is often symbolically referred to as Old Spider Woman or Spider Woman. "Purley, Anthony F. (1974). "Keres Pueblo Concepts of Deity," ''America ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pueblo Indians
The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are the best-known. Pueblo people speak languages from four different language families, and each Pueblo is further divided culturally by kinship systems and agricultural practices, although all cultivate varieties of maize. Pueblo peoples have lived in the American Southwest for millennia and descend from Ancestral Pueblo peoples. The term ''Anasazi'' is sometimes used to refer to ancestral Pueblo people but it is now largely minimized. ''Anasazi'' is a Navajo word that means ''Ancient Ones'' or ''Ancient Enemy'', hence Pueblo peoples' rejection of it (see exonym). ''Pueblo'' is a Spanish term for "village." When Spaniards entered the area, beginning in the 16th-century with the founding of Nuevo México, they came across ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
String Game
A string figure is a design formed by manipulating string on, around, and using one's fingers or sometimes between the fingers of multiple people. String figures may also involve the use of the mouth, wrist, and feet. They may consist of singular images or be created and altered as a game, known as a string game, or as part of a story involving various figures made in sequence (string story). String figures have also been used for divination, such as to predict the sex of an unborn child. A popular string game is cat's cradle, but many string figures are known in many places under different names, and string figures are well distributed throughout the world.Elffers, Joost and Schuyt, Michael (1978/1979). ''Cat's Cradles and Other String Figures'', p.197. . History According to Camilla Gryski, a Canadian librarian and author of numerous string figure books, "We don't know when people first started playing with string, or which primitive people invented this ancient art. We do k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zuni People
The Zuni ( zun, A:shiwi; formerly spelled ''Zuñi'') are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. The Zuni are a Federally recognized tribe and most live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico, United States. The Pueblo of Zuni is south of Gallup, New Mexico. The Zuni tribe lived in multi level adobe houses. In addition to the reservation, the tribe owns trust lands in Catron County, New Mexico, and Apache County, Arizona. The Zuni call their homeland ''Halona Idiwan’a ''or Middle Place. The word ''Zuni'' is believed to derive from the Western Keres language (Acoma) word ''sɨ̂‧ni'', or a cognate thereof. History Archaeology suggests that the Zuni have been farmers in their present location for 3,000 to 4,000 years. It is now thought that the Ancestral Zuni people have inhabited the Zuni River valley since the last millennium B.C., when they began using irrigation to farm maize o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé
() (also spelled ''Ahsonnutli'', ''Estsanatlehi'', and ''Etsanatlehi'' in older sources), meaning "the woman who changes", is one of the creation spirits of the Navajo. According to the Navajos, she created the Navajo people by taking old skin from her body and using her mountain soil bundle (a bag made of four pieces of buckskin, brought by her father from the underworld) to create four couples, who are the ancestors of the four original Navajo clans. She helped create the sky and the earth. She is the mother of twins Monster Slayer and Born for Water (fathered by the sun). In English sources she is usually named Changing Woman. Her parents were Long Life Boy and Happiness Girl, who "represent the means by which all life passes through time." She is associated with a young Navajo woman's entry into puberty, and the , a four-day rite at that time. Changing Woman is celebrated in the Blessing Way, a Navajo prayer ceremony that brings fortune and long life. In the American South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
