Hopi The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...

and Zuni dance rituals, Hú, also known as Huhuwa and Tithu, is the

Kachina A kachina (; Hopi language, Hopi: ''katsina'' , plural ''katsinim'' ) is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo people, Native Americans in the United States, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the Unite ...

of the

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

. The hummingbird was, and is, an important bird in

puebloan The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Among the currently inhabited Pueblos, Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are some of the ...

cultures. Hopi legend speaks of the hummingbird as intervening on behalf of the Hopi people to convince the gods to bring rain. Even today hummingbird feathers are highly prized and used ceremonially and in dance costumes. All hummingbird Kachinas are depicted with green masks and green moccasins. Hú dolls are carved from the root of the cottonwood tree. During traditional ceremonies, the Hú dancer bobs while dancing and calls like a bird. His songs are prayers for rain to wet freshly planted crops in the spring, and women reward him with baskets of flowers; then they scatter to find him more flowers so the rain won't be scared away like a hummingbird might be scared away by a crowd. The Hú dancer appears in both winter and spring ceremonies as well as the summer night dances in a lesser role. These dances are often performed in underground ceremonial rooms which are only opened for the Hú dance.

References

* ''Hopi Kachinas'', by

Jesse Walter Fewkes Jesse Walter Fewkes (November 14, 1850 – May 31, 1930) was an American anthropologist, archaeologist, writer, and naturalist. Early life and education Fewkes was born in Newton, Massachusetts on November 14, 1850, and initially trained as a ...

, 1903 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hu Hopi mythology