Hopi Creation Myth: The Four Creations

Hopi Creation Myth: The Four Creations The creation myth excerpted is from the Hopi people of northern Arizona. The people that collected this myth were Oswald White Bear Frederick and his wife Naomi. The myth was told by older Hopi at the village of Oraibi. According to Wall and Masayesva, the Hopi used a farming method, “… known as “dry farming” because it relies strictly on precipitation and runoff water (along with hard work and prayer), has kept the Hopi culture intact for nearly a thousand years” (1). This type of work that the Hopi did had a great impact on the myths they told. “The Four Creations” myth is a reflection of the lives of the Hopi. The Myth has many insights including aetiological, historical, and anthropological insights. One of the aetiological insights in this particular myth is how ants came to have thin waists. In the myth, “As the ants' food ran low, the people refused the food, but the ants

Likewise she made the birds and animals, again using earth and singing the Creation Song” (Oswald). The fact that the creator of life on earth is a woman says a lot about the Hopi people. Woman must have been respected for their ability to create life in the form of babies. Another anthropological insight from the excerpt is the way Spider Woman brings about creation, though song. This gives the reader the impression that song was very important to the Hopi. Song could have been sacred to them. A third insight into the culture of the Hopi is the way the creator acts towards his creations. In the myth, the creator saves the people that still remember him and then proceeds to kill off the rest through the use of fire, water, and ice. This tell the reader that the Hopi believed in a god that was both caring and vengeful. The reader can also see that the Hopi believed that regular appreciation of the gods was