Hopi mythology The Hopi maintain a complex religious and mythological tradition stretching back over centuries. However, it is difficult to definitively state what all Hopis as a group believe. Like the oral traditions of many other societies, Hopi mythology is ...

, Muyingwa is one of the

kachina A kachina (; also katchina, katcina, or katsina; Hopi: ''katsina'' , plural ''katsinim'' ) is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo peoples, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the United States. In th ...

s (alternately spelled Katsinam) responsible for the germination of seeds. Alosaka is another katchina responsible for growth of crops, and possibly an alternate name or alternate aspect of Muyingwa. As with other Katchinas Muyingwa and Alosaka are spirits represented by

doll A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are foun ...

s and performed with masks at ceremonies (also called kachinas). They are said to live in the San Francisco Peaks to the west of the Hopi Reservation. Alosaka refers to two wooden idols called the Alosaka. These idols or kachinas (or katsinam) were part of a shrine at the village of Awatobi, situated south of

Keams Canyon Keams Canyon ( Hopi: Pongsikya or Pongsikvi; nv, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. The population was 304 at the 2010 census. Pongsikya is a narrow box canyon that is named after a plant of edible gr ...

on the eastern edge of the Hopi reservation. Awatobi was destroyed around 1700, however the shrine was used for at least another 200 years by the priests from the second mesa village of Mishungnovi (Mishoninovi). The wooden pair was kept in the shrine, made of boulders and sealed with logs, and then taken out only for ritual purposes. The last time they were seen by non-native peoples was approximately 1890.

References

Source: The 17th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, ed. J.W. Powell, 1895, page 619. Hopi mythology {{NorthAm-myth-stub