Kokopelli Story page 8

URL: http://www.acaciart.com/stories/archive10.html
Date/Time: 03/04/2001 12:52:17

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Kokopelli

Kokopelli is a prehistoric deity depicted hundreds of times in rock art, some of it over a thousand years old, located in numerous sites in southwestern United States deserts and mountains. Often depicted as a humpbacked flute player, this mythic being has survived in recognizable form from Anasazi times to the present. There is something appealing about Kokopelli which fascinates all kinds of people, even in our modern technological age.

The Anasazi or "Ancient Ones" were primarily farmers, growing corn, beans, and squash in the Four Corners area on the Colorado Plateau. Both the Basketmaker Period (dating at least from about 200 B.C.) and the Pueblo Period (dating from about 700 A.D.) include the humpbacked flute player among their deities or supernaturals. Long-distance trade networks and migrations from Mexico apparently helped spread cultural and religious elements, so that by 1500 A.D. fluteplayer images were also included in the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Fremont cultures, in petroglyphs (rock carving), pictographs (rock painting), kiva murals, ceramics and baskets. Today, Kokopelli is one of the Hopi kachinas, and is in many traditional stories and songs of Native Americans of the desert southwest.

In Kokopelli, Flute Player Images in Rock Art , Dennis Slifer and James Duffield mention "...widely held beliefs that Kokopelli was a fertility symbol, roving minstrel or trader, rain priest, hunting magician, trickster, and seducer of maidens..."

"In Pueblo myths, Kokopelli carries in his hump seeds, babies, and blankets to offer to maidens that he seduces. In upper Rio Grande pueblos, he wandered between villages with bags of songs on his back. As a fertility symbol, he was welcome during corn-planting season and was sought after by barren wives, although avoided by shy maidens."

The above referenced book (published by Ancient City Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87502) includes many photographs and line drawings of ancient petroglyphs and pictographs. It contains songs and stories interspersed in factual material. I found it interesting, informative, and stimulating to the imagination. The quotes are on pages 3, 7, and the following in the conclusion on page 140:

"No matter what form or how complete our understanding of his history, Kokopelli still brings wonder to our lives. The thin sound of his flute that once echoed off canyon walls must still be reverberating around the Southwest and through the ages..."

Enjoy Kokopelli!

Pat Grames

URL: http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/articles/k/kokopelli.html
Date/Time: 03/04/2001 12:30:23

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Kokopelli, the hump-back flute player, is a symbol seen all over the southwest. Evidence from canyon walls and ancient pottery indicate that he was a popular symbol to many Indian tribes. To the Hopi, Kokopelli actually represents one who brings the burden of babies and also one who carries sacks of buckskins for the women to make moccasins. In the springtime he is part of ceremonies depicting certain mating rituals. In Zuni culture, Kokopelli is known to be an important rain priest who brings in the rain. Known as Ololowishkya, he is shown with a festive hairstyle, displaying a large phallus and is always seen with flute playing Paiyatamu as part of corn grinding ceremonies. In the Winnebago version of Kokopelli, he has a penis which he could detach and send down the river to "have his way" with the young maidens bathing in the stream.

URL: http://www.so-utah.com/feature/kokopeli/homepage.html
Date/Time: 03/04/2001 11:56:21

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The lore of Southern Utah has it that a little man named Kokopelli used to travel the villages long ago. He carried a bag of corn seed on his back, and taught the people to plant corn.

At night, while the people slept, Kokopelli roamed the corn fields, playing his flute. The next morning villagers would arise to find the corn four feet tall and Kokopelli vanished. Also many of the young women of the village would be pregnant.

Drawings of Kokopelli, also known as the Anasazi Casanova, decorate rock panels throughout southeastern Utah. The Sand Island Rock Art Panel has a special claim to fame: five Kokopelli figures. The Navajos of Monument Valley can show you a unique Kokopelli petroglyph: He’s lying on the ground, playing his flute. Both Kokopelli sites are close to camping areas where you can stop for a good night’s sleep. But if, during the night, you hear the gentle tones of the flute, you’d better lock up your wives and daughters.

URL: http://www.kokopelli1.com/kok-name.htm
Date/Time: 03/04/2001 11:55:19

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The figure of Kokopelli - the Humpbacked Flute Player - appears in many of the ancient legends of Native Americans. His image can be found in petroglyphs carved upon canyon walls and desert rocks. A symbol of abundance and fertility, he carried the seeds of plants and flowers in the hump of his back. Mischievous but good-hearted, Kokopelli is probably best known for the music he played upon his flute. His songs were said to bring warmth and life to both the people and the land. Listen carefully and perhaps you too can hear the merry sounds of Kokopelli's magic flute!

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