Lakota, Ohlone & Hopi: Creation, Spirits/Divine & Major Ceremonies

Introduction

This blog will analyze the similarities and difference between the Lakota, the Ohlone and the Hopi peoples in three different realms: creation stories, divinities or spirit people that play major roles in their religions and major ceremonies."The Lakota, (known historically as the Teton, Sioux and Dakota) are composed of seven tribes: Oglala (They Scatter Their Own), Sicangu (Burned Thighs, also known as the Brule), Oohenunpa (Two Kettles), Itazipco (Sans Arcs, Without Bows), Hunkpapa (End of the Camp Circle), Sihasapa (Blackfeet), Mniocowojou {Minneconjou} (Planters by the Water). (Taylor, 2005, 983). The Lakota were a nomadic hunter-gatherer people who lived on the Great Plains and now have reservations on what was a small fraction of their homeland in North and South Dakota. The Hopi are a pueblo living people in the Southwest. “The Hopi people trace their history in Arizona to more than 2,000 years, but their history as a people goes back many more thousands of years. According to their legends, the Hopi migrated north to Arizona from the south, up from what is now South America, Central America and Mexico. “ (http://www.itcaonline.com/tribes_hopi.html) The Ohlone or Coastanoan people were Native Californians living in what is now known as the San Francisco Bay Area. They were hunter-gatherers and moved within their territories seasonally for gathering acorns or other purposes.

Creation Stories

“When this world was finished, the eagle, the humming-bird, and Coyote were standing on the top of Pico Blanco. When the water rose to their feet, the eagle, carrying the humming-bird and Coyote, flew to the Sierra de Gabilan. There they stood until the water went down. Then the eagle sent Coyote down the mountain to see if the world were dry. Coyote came back and said: "The whole world is dry." The eagle said to him: "Go and look in the river. See what there is there." Coyote came back and said: "There is a beautiful girl." The eagle said: "She will be your wife in order that people may be raised again." He gave Coyote a digging implement of abalone shell and a digging stick. Coyote asked: "How will my children be raised'?" The eagle would not say. He wanted to sec if Coyote was wise enough to know. Coyote asked him again how these new people were to be raised from the girl. Then he said: "Well, I will make them right here in the knee." The eagle said: "No, that is not good." Then Coyote said: "Well then, here in the elbow." "No, that is not good" "In the eyebrow." "No, that is not good." "In the back of the neck." "No, that is not good either. None of these will be good." Then the humming-bird cried: "Yes, my brother, they are not good. This place will be good, here in the belly.- Then Coyote was angry. He wanted to kill him. The eagle raised his wings and the humming-bird flew in his armpit. Coyote, looked for him in vain. Then the girl said: "What shall I do? How will I make my children?" The eagle said to Coyote: "Go and marry her. She will be your wife." Then Coyote went off with this girl. He said to her: "Louse me." Then the girl found a woodtick on him. She was afraid and threw it away. Then Coyote seized her. He said: "Look for it, look for it! Take it! Eat it! Eat my louse!" Then the girl put it in her mouth. "'Swallow it, swallow it!" he said. Then she swallowed it and became pregnant. Then she was afraid. She ran away. She ran through thorns. Coyote ran after her. … Coyote's wife said to him: "I do not want you to marry other women." Now they had only one child. Then Coyote said: "I want many children. We alone cannot have many children. Let me marry another woman so that there may be more of us." Then the woman said, "Well, go." Then he had five children. Then his children said: "Where shall we make our houses? Where shall we marry?" Coyote told them: "Go out over the world." (Krober, 1907)
“The Hopi creation story is about a succession through underworlds and each of these is associated with a specific direction, color, mineral, plant, and bird.The First World: "Endless Space" contained the First People and was a pure and happy universe. It was destroyed by fire. The Second World: "Dark Midnight" was destroyed by cold and ice. The Chosen People survived in an anthill and then climbed up a ladder into the third world. The Third World was destroyed by floods. Spider Woman saved these ancestors by hiding them in reeds and floating them to dry land into the Fourth World. The Fourth World: "The World Complete." The caretaker of this world is Masau'u, The Fire God. This world is unlike the previous three, which have been blocked by waters and ice. In the past worlds they had been well-provided for, but the fourth world has proven to be harsh, with deserts, marshes, mountains, and violent weather.” (http://www.ausbcomp.com/redman/hopi.htm)
Like the Hopi, the creation story of the Lakota involves emergence from a subterranean world through a cave into the world in which we now live. While the location of the cave from which the Hopi emerged is under some contention, the cave from which the Lakota came is much closer to contemporary reservations. “Lakota oral tradition tells us that the Lakota Beginning on the surface of Unci Maka (Grandmother earth) began when Wasun Wiconiya Wakan {Wind Cave, which is now a national park} provided the opening from which the Lakota emerged from their subterranean world to the surface of the world. After the time of creation, the world was divided into three regions; the sky, the earth and waters and the underworld. When Mahpiyato created humans, they were placed in the subterranean region. At this time the Lakota called themselves the Pte Oyate, Buffalo Nation. In Lakota philosophy Pte Oyate is a metaphor meaning born of woman, physically and spiritually.Their chief in the underworld was Wazi {old Man} and his wife was Wakanka {Old Woman}. In time Wazi and Wakanka are dissatisfied with their positions. They became selfish and sought power through their beautiful daughter, Ite (Face) . Because of their selfishness and the wrong - doings they are banished to the edge of the world with their daughter Ite. One side of Ite's face is made horribly ugly because she neglected her family and forgot the Pte Oyate values. From then on she is known as Anukite which means double face or two face.The emergence story begins with Iktomi, the spirit trickster. Iktomi transforms himself into a wolf, goes to the entrance of Wasun Wiconiya Wakan (Wind Cave) that leads to the subterranean world and tricks the humans to come to the surface of the earth by offering them food and clothing. The first human to follow the wolf is Tokahe - The First. Despite the warning not to follow the wolf, three other men follow Tokahe and the wolf to the surface. There Iktomi still disguised as the wolf and Anukite (double face woman), daughter of Wazi and Wakanka tell the visitors that buffalo meat would keep them young forever. Tokahe and the three men return to the underworld and tell others of the wondrous things they had seen on earth. Tokahe persuades six men and their families to leave their subterranean home and come to the surface of the earth. Once on earth they want to return to their home when they grow tired, cold and hungry. After searching for some time they could not find the entrance to their home because Iktomi had disguised and reduced the size of the entrance .Wazi and Wakanka find them and teach them how to make clothing, tipi homes, how to hunt buffalo and prepare food so they could live on earth. From then on the Lakota lived on the earth. The first seven families who came onto the earth with Tokahe were the original ancestors of the Seven Council Fires and represent each star in the Big Dipper.” (http://www.tcsdk12.org/lakota/sacred.htm) “Over many years of exploration and mapping, Wind Cave has grown to be one of the world's largest known caves. Currently over 132.05 miles [212.51 km] of passages have been mapped in Wind Cave.” (http://www.nps.gov/wica/naturescience/cave.htm)

Divine Figures, Deities & Spirits

The gods of the Ohlone were anthropomorphic and fittingly held such names as “Eagle, Hummingbird, Coyote, Falcon, Lizard, Bear and other spirits who appeared shortly after the great flood, spirits which…seem to have combined the attributes of humans, animals and gods. But of all the spirits it was Coyote that held the most interest.” (Margolin, 1978, 135) The Ohlone believe in sea monsters as well. “The animal-gods of the Ohlones were far from omniscient, omnipotent or even virtuous. They were very much like flesh and blood people and animals, except they had far more magic power.” (Margolin, 1978, p.136).
“The religion of the Hopi Indians…includes a broad pantheon of both deities and spiritual beings. There are approximately 36 Hopi deities who inhabit the shy, earth and underworld. The spiritual beings, estimated to number anywhere from 200-500, serve as intermediaries between the deities and the Hopi people…The kachinas are an expression of the Hopis’ animistic view of the universe” (Jacobs, 1980,v-9) “The Chief Kachinas are active in the more important ceremonies, such as the Soyal, Powamu, or Niman, where they perform a variety of specific purposes. Ahola, Ahulani, and Soyal, who open the kivas, and Crow Mother and her two sons, the Hu Kachinas that initiate the children, are characteristic of these kachinas. Eototo, a Chief Kachina who is the equivalent of the village chief and who appears in every important ceremony, is another.” (Wright, 2008, p.7) “According to the Hopi, at the beginning of time Spider Woman controlled the underworld, the home of the gods, while the sun god Tawa ruled the sky. Using only their thoughts, they created the earth between the two other worlds. Spider Woman molded animals from clay, but they remained lifeless. So she and Tawa spread a soft white blanket over them, said some magic words, and the creatures began to move. Spider Woman then molded people from clay. To bring them to life, she clutched them to her breast and, together with Tawa, sang a song that made them into living beings. She divided the animals and people into the groups that inhabit the earth today. She also gave men and women specific roles: Women were to watch over the home and men to pray and make offerings to the gods.” (http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Sp-Tl/Spider-Woman.html)
“Chief among the {Lakota’s} gods were Takushkanshkan (“something that moves”), the Sun, who is married to the Moon, with whom he has one daughter, Wohpe (“falling star”). Old Man and Old Woman, whose daughter Ite (“face”) is married to Wind, with whom she has four sons, the Four Winds. Among numerous other spirits, the most important is Inktomi (“spider”), the devious trickster. Inktomi conspires with Old Man and Old Woman to increase their daughter's status by arranging an affair between the Sun and Ite. The discovery of the affair by the Sun's wife leads to a number of punishments by Takuskanskan, who gives the Moon her own domain, and by separating her from the Sun initiates the creation of time. Old Man, Old Woman, and Ite are sent to Earth, but Ite is separated from the Wind, her husband, who, along with the Four Winds and a fifth wind presumed to be the child of the adulterous affair, establishes space. The daughter of the Sun and the Moon, Wohpe, also falls to earth and later resides with the South Wind, the paragon of Lakota maleness, and the two adopt the fifth wind, called Wamniomni (“whirlwind”).” ( http://www.tcsdk12.org/lakota/sacred.htm))
Iktomi is "firstborn son of Inyan, the Rock, who was originally named Ksa {Wisdom}. He was born full grown from an egg and was the size of an ordinary human. He has a big round body like a spider, with slender arms and legs, and powerful hands and feet. He dresses in clothes made of bucksin and racoon." (Gill, 1992) He is a shapeshifter and trickster figure. Though not specifically malicious, regardless one would not want his particular attention. The Hopi have a trickster figure as well: the flute-playing Kokopelli. Kokopelli is a god of fertility and music. His image has been appropriated by non-Natives for use in so-called “Southwestern” art and is very common. This harkens back to Coyote, the trickster God of the Ohlone. It is clear that mischievousness is a characteristic of the Divine in a Native worldview.
White Buffalo Woman is considered the messenger of Lakota religion and culture. "Nineteen generations ago the beautiful spirit we now refer to as Pte-san win-yan (White Buffalo Calf Woman) brought the Sacred C'anupa {pipe} to our People. She taught the People the Seven Sacred Rites and how to walk on Mother Earth in a sacred manner." (Lookinghorse, 2006, p. D1). Like many savior figures, White Buffalo Calf Woman arrived at a time of great famine among the Lakota people. Two brothers (or cousins) were out scouting/hunting the buffalo which had vanished at the time. Then a magical woman in a white buckskin dress (or nude depending on the version) walks up to the two men holding a sacred bundle. One of the scouts begins to approach her with "lustful thoughts on his mind," in different versions he intends to (1) take her by force, (2) make her his wife or (3) simply is imagining making love to her. When the young man approaches her he is swallowed up by a magical cloud that subsequently vanishes leaving only a pile of bones. Needless to say, the other man is quite frightened but White Buffalo Calf Woman assures him of her good intentions and send him as a messenger to his band that she will be arriving at their village the next day and they must setup a special tipi for her to speak to the tribal elders in."She told them 'This is the C'anupa (the Sacred Pipe). the person who smokes it achieves union with all Beings and with all things in the World. By smoking this C'anupa you will make direct contact with Wakan Tankan (the Great Mystery) {sometimes translated as the Great Spirit” (Lookinghorse, 2006, p. D1 (previously cited in White Buffalo Woman Wiki, 2010, White).

Major Ceremonies
The rituals of all three of these Native groups have dances as a central part of the religious activity. Among the Ohlone “there were…a multitude of religious dances such as the First Grass dance, the Coming-o-Age dance for girls, the Mourning Ceremony dances, or the Acorn Dances. There were dances for men only (such as the Hiwey); dances for women only (the Lole); dances in which someone impersonated the mysterious spirit-world figure Kuksu.” (Margolin, 1978, 151). Due to the impact of the Mission system on the local Native people it is difficult to determine the exact ceremonial calendar of the Ohlone.
The Hopi have a ceremonial cycle based upon solar and lunar events with includes a six month Kachina season. The ceremonies are Wuwuchim (November, initiation into secret societies occurs only in certain years), Soyalangwu (December, winter solstice ceremony overseen by Kachina Soyal), Pamuya Kiva Dances (January), Powamu (February, Bean Dance), Anktioni (March, repeat dances), Kachina Plaza Dances (April and May), Niman ( July, Kachina Home Dance), Snake-Antelope Ceremony (August, alternates biennially with Flute Ceremony), Maraw Dance (September, performed by Women’s Society) and Owaqol or Lakon Dances (October, performed by Women’s Society). (Jacobs, 1980, 20-21) Seven of these ceremonies are Kachina ceremonies.
The seven sacred ceremonies of the Lakota are the Inipi {sweat lodge/purification ceremony}, the Wi-wanyang Wacipi {Sun Dance Ceremony}, Hanblec'iya {Vision Quest ceremony}, Kunka kag'a (Making of a relative/adoption ceremony), the Tapa kah'g'oya (Throwing of the Sacred Ball: a children's ceremony}, Wiyan Is'nati {Womanhood Ceremony}, and finally the Nag'i gluha (Keeping of the Spirit Ceremony}. (Brown, 1953). Seven is a sacred number in many native traditions. Unlike the Hopi and Ohlone traditions, the sacred ceremonies of the Lakota are both not entirely based on dance as well as not utilizing the “taking-on of the god-head” found in the Kachina dances or in the Kuksu dance of the Ohlone. The Lakota also have many rituals that are based entirely around dancing, however not all of the seven sacred rites involve dancing as an integral part.
The Hopi, Lakota and Ohlone share many common belief patterns. There are a great deal of similarities exist among their creation stories, their spirit people and the ceremonial patterns of these three tribal groups. However, the worldview of these three tribes is reflective of the natural world of the tribe’s traditional homeland. Their belief patterns are elaborate and specific and while some characteristics may be alike, there are infinite unique details that delineate the tribal worldviews.






Works Cited
Black Elk, & Brown, Joseph Epes. 1953 The Sacred Pipe : Black Elk's account of the seven rites of the Oglala Sioux / Recorded and edited by Joseph Epes Brown University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
“Coyote, Eagle, and Hummingbird tales”, Kroeber, 1907a:199-202, Costanoan Rumsien, online as Indian Myths of South Central California; also Kroeber, 1925:472-473. Chochenyo Kaknu tales, Bean (Harrington), 1994:106.
Gill, Sam D., and Irene F. Sullivan. Dictionary of Native American Mythology. Santa Barbara, Cailfornia: ABC-CLIO, 1992: p.54
“Hopi” http://www.ausbcomp.com/redman/hopi.htm
“Hopi Tribe” Inter-tribal Council of Arizona Inc. http://www.itcaonline.com/tribes_hopi.html retrieved on March 14, 2010.
Jacobs, Martina Magenau.(1980) Kachina Ceremonies and Kachina Dolls. Carnegie Museum of Natural History
“Lakota Sioux Creation Story – Wind Cave Story” Cheyenne River South Reservation http://www.sioux.org/English/creation_story.php retrieved on March 16, 2010.
Lookinghorse, Arvol.(Oct, 2006) "The Story of Pte-san Win-yan: White Buffalo Calf Woman" Native Voice. vol. 5, iss. 13; pg D1-D2.
Margolin, Malcolm. (1978) The Ohlone Way Heyday Books: Berkeley.
“Sacred Sites of the Lakota Nation” Retrieved from http://www.tcsdk12.org/lakota/sacred.htm on March 16, 2010.
“Spider Woman” http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Sp-Tl/Spider-Woman.html retrieved on March 16, 2010.
Taylor, Bron. (2005) "Lakota" Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature London & New York: Continuum, p.983-985.
Wright, Barton (2008) “Chapter 4 Hopi Kachinas: A Life Force” HOPI NATION: Essays on Indigenous Art, Culture, History, and Law. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.