Extrapolation and Excavation: Ancestral Puebloan Mythology

For us moderns, the natural world is a mechanistic, inanimate place governed by scientific laws. There’s a fundamental difference here in how ancient people viewed the world. To the Ancestral Puebloans, the arid highland of the Colorado Plateau would have been animated by a host of spirits, deities, and supernatural forces. We lack the intuitive connection between the natural world, and the world of myth. Given that they didn’t leave a written record, we’re going to have to construct a best guess for what their beliefs might have been. We have a few tools here to help us, but I have to caution you, we’re going to be speculating. The descendants of the Ancestral Puebloans still live in the American southwest today. They belong to many different tribes- some of the most well known among them are the Hopi, the Zuni, and the Tewa. The Ancestral Puebloans didn’t have a written record, so if we want to imagine what their beliefs might have been, the best we can do is look to their descendants. Obviously there are problems with this approach. First of all, cultures change over time. Christianity today looks different than it did in the year 1200. And continuity is easier to maintain when your beliefs are codified in a written document, which -again- the Ancestral Puebloans didn’t have. Because there’s no official written doctrine uniting the whole region, the religious beliefs of these tribes vary quite a bit. Anthropologists Harold Courlander and Daniel Harmon state that “Each clan and village has put the imprint of its own experiences on recollections of the past.”(The Fourth World of the Hopis, p13) The details of these different versions can be directly contradictory. To make matters worse, it’s difficult to know which parts of these myths might have been influenced by Christianity, or by European folklore. Despite all of these problems I think our picture of the Ancestral Puebloans would be incomplete without discussing their world of myth. ​

We should start at the beginning- how the world began. For the modern Pueblo tribes, a common motif of their creation myths is emergence from another world. Here’s an abridged version of the Zuni emergence myth as told to Anthropologist Ruth Benedict in the 1920s-

​They were living in the fourth world. It was dark. They could not see one another. They stepped upon one another, they urinated upon one another. They could not breathe. They lived there for four days. The Sun took pity upon them. He saw that the world was covered with hills and springs but there were no people to give him prayersticks. He thought, “My people shall come to the daylight world.”
    The earth was covered with mist. He threw his rays into the mist and there in the world his sons stood up. They were two. Their hair was tangled, they had long noses, long cheeks.] The next day, they played together. The third day the younger brother said to the elder, “Let us go and look for beautiful places. I will go to Corn Mountain, and you shall go to the South Where the Cotton Hangs. The third day they went. The younger brother looked over the world and he saw that nobody lived there. He said to himself, “Tomorrow we shall be old enough to work.” When the nest day came he called his brother. Elder Brother came and said, “What is it that you have to say that you have called me?” Younger Brother said, “We are four days old and we are old enough to work. This is a good world and no one lives in it. Let us go to the southwest. There below the people are living in the fourth world. They are our fathers and mothers, our sons and daughters. There is no light there, no room to move about. They cannot see one another. They step on one another, they urinate upon one another, they spit on one another, they throw refuse upon one another. They should come to this world where they can see our father Sun.” Elder Brother answered, “It is as you say. We will go and try.”
    The two went to the southwest and they came to the entrance to the fourth world. They went in and came to the first world. There was just a little light there. They came to the second world. It was dark. They came to the third world. It was darker still. They came to the fourth world. It was black. The people could not see each other. They felt one another with their hands and recognized their faces. The people said, “it is our fathers, the bow priests.” “We want to see our father sun, “Do you know how to get to the daylight world?”

Quick observation- where the number three is especially significant in European folklore- trinities, trilogies, etc. You’ll have noticed that the number 4 is a significant one to the Puebloans.

Younger Brother went to the north. He took the seeds of the pine tree and planted them. He turned about and when he looked where he had planted the seeds the pine had already grown. He tore off a branch and brought it back to the people. He went to the west and planted the seeds of the spruce. He turned about and when he looked where he had planted the seeds the spruce had already grown. He tore off a branch and brought it back to the people. He went to the south and planted the seeds of the silver spruce. He turned about and when he looked where he had planted the seeds the silver spruce had already grown. He tore off a branch and brought it back to the people. He went to the east and planted the seeds of the aspen. He turned about and when he looked where he had planted the seeds, the aspen had already grown. He tore off a branch and brought it back to the people. He said, “we are ready to go to the daylight world. My people, make yourselves ready. Take those things that you live by.

The bow priests took the long prayerstick they had made from the pine of the north. They set it in the earth. The people went up the prayerstick and came into the third world. There was a rumbling like thunder. It was lighter in that world and the people were blinded. They lived there for four days. The bow priests took the crook of the west that they had made from the spruce. They set in in the earth. There was a rumbling like thunder and the people came up into the second world. It was twilight there and the people were blinded. They remained there for four days. They took the prayerstick they had made from the silver spruce of the south and set it in the earth. There was rumbling like thunder and the people came up into the first world. It was light like red dawn. They were dazzled and they said, “is it here that we shall live?” The bow priests answered, “Not yet.” The people were sad. They were covered with dirt and with ashes. They were stained with spit and they had green slime on their heads. Their hands and feet were webbed and they had tails and no mouths. They remained there for four days. The bow priests took the long prayerstick they had made from the aspen of the east and they set it in the earth. There was rumbling like thunder and the people came up into the daylight world. When they came into the sunlight tears ran down their cheeks. Younger brother said to them, “Turn to the sun and look full at our father Sun no matter how bright it is.” They cried out for it hurt them and their tears ran to the ground. Sunflowers and buttercups sprang up from the tears caused by the sun. The people said, “Is this the world where we shall live?” “Yes,” said the bowpriests, this is the last world. Here you see our father Sun.”

The Hopi emergence story is similar. In a version told in David Leeming’s World of Myth (36), Tawa the Sun God and Spider Woman used their powers to create the earth between the above and the below. They created all the animals of the world. Finally they created humans, but the humans were inert, and lifeless. Tawa and Spider Woman sang their magic over the humans’ forms, and finally they came alive. With the magic twins at her side, Spider Woman led them through the Four Great Caverns of the Underworld- like the four worlds in the Zuni myth- and finally through a Sipapu, a point of emergence to the world above.

By Wvbailey at the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5541536

We can see evidence for the Sipapu in the archaeological record. The ancestral puebloans incorporated ceremonial sipapus into their architecture, which we can still see in surviving pit houses and kivas. You would enter a pit house -which was partially underground- by climbing down a ladder from a hole in the roof. It would be dimly lit, smoky from a fire crackling in the central hearth. Your family would be packed in, sleeping benches arranged around the edge the room, dried corn husks, woven textiles, and other belongings hanging from crossbeams. In many of these pit-houses, archaeologists have found a small hole, unassuming at first, as if it had been an accident- dug into the floor on the north end, aligned with the firepit and the hearthstone. That small hole is thought to have represented the sipapu.

In Leeming’s Hopi emergence myth, after the people emerge into the world, Spider Woman assigns them their social roles, and some of these are interesting because they’re echoed in the Archaeological evidence, which we’re going to talk more about later on. Spider Woman tells the people that It is a woman’s responsibility to build the home, and that the family name should descend through her. That’s called a matrilineal line- most of you listening have probably inherited your father’s name, in our own patrilineal system. Spider Woman also assigns women the job of making pottery, grinding grain for food, and rearing children. To men, she assigns the task of building Kivas in the earth and holding religious ceremonies. She also tasks them with hunting, and with fashioning weapons for himself. To me, the implication there is a responsibility for warfare and defense.

Let’s continue our telling of Ruth Benedict’s account of the Zuni Emergence myth- we pick after the people emerge into the daylight world.

“ When they came into the sunlight tears ran down their cheeks. Sunflowers and buttercups sprang up from the tears caused by the sun. The people said, “Is this the world where we shall live?” “Yes,” said the bowpriests, this is the last world. Here you see our father Sun. They remained there for four days, and they went on. They came to a spring. They lived there for four days and the bow priests said, "It is time our people learned to eat." They took an ear of corn and they put it in the fields. When it had grown they harvested it and the men took it home to their wives. They smelled it, but they had no way to eat. The bow priests were sad and Younger Brother said, "Elder Brother, the people have food and I am sorry for them that they cannot eat. Let us cut them so that they can enjoy food." Elder Brother agreed and his brother said, "When everyone is asleep we shall go to each house and cut mouths in their faces." That night after the people were asleep the bow priests took their ceremonial stone knives and sharpened them with a red whetstone. They went to each house. They cut each face where the skin of the mouth was puffed up. The knife made the lips red from the red of the whetstone. They went home. When the sun rose the people found that they had mouths. They said, "What makes our faces so flat ?" They began to get hungry and the men brought in corn and water and they ate. They tried to break up the corn so that they could eat it better. They took whetstones in their webbed hands and rubbed the corn on the hearthstone. They mixed porridge and made corncakes. After they had made it it was hard to clean their hands for they were webbed and Younger Brother said to Elder Brother, "I am sorry for my people that their hands are webbed. Let us cut their fingers apart." Elder Brother agreed and that night they took the larger stone knife and cut the webbed hands and feet of the people. In the morning the people were frightened but when the sun had risen they did not notice any more. They worked better with fingers and toes. The next day Younger Brother said to the older, "Our people have been cut. They still have tails, and horns. Let us cut them away." Elder Brother agreed and they took the smaller stone knife. They went to each house and cut the tails and horns from their people. In the morning the people were frightened but when the sun rose they did not mind any more. They were glad that they were finished.”

The idea that people the people were somehow unfinished, or bestial, or malformed seems to be another common element of pueblo emergence myths. In some versions they start as animals in the lowest worlds, before progressively shapeshifting into higher forms as they climb. In others they undergo moral, rather than physical change, learning how to be proper and well-behaved members of their tribe.

Finding gods or myths in Ancestral Puebloan archaeology is a bit of a dicy business- without written records, the only evidence we have is scattered images from rock art and pottery. Even when we think we see a modern pueblo god in Ancestral Puebloan art, there’s no way of knowing whether it meant the same thing then as it does now.
    Some of the most ubiquitous modern pueblo gods are the Kachinas- a pantheon of spirits representing elements of the natural world like deceased ancestors, notable locations, natural phenomenon- somewhat akin to ancient greek demigods. The exact Kachinas in the pantheon vary from village to village. Pueblo people today invoke the Kachinas to harness their powers in the world. They can do things like bring rain, or a good harvest. They make Kachina masks- semi-abstract, with leather painted in bright colors, decorated with hair and feathers. They hold dances throughout the year, where masked performers harness the powers of the Kachinas for the good of the village. These dances are a tradition of many Pueblo Indians, particularly the Hopi and Zuni. They're social occasions for the village, where friends and relatives are able to come from neighboring towns to see the dance and partake in prepared feasts. Kachina dolls act as miniature representations of kachina dancers. The design of the small brightly painted wooden figures duplicate the kachina dancer, his mask, his costume, body paint, and the paraphernalia which he carries. These figurines are given to children not as toys, but as objects to be treasured and studied. They help the children become familiar with the appearance of the kachinas, and help teach them good morals. The Kachinas are a pervasive force in pueblo mythology. We have evidence the Kachina cult, or at least some of its antecedents were already present when the Ancestral Puebloans were at their height.

At Double Butte Cave, in the Gila Basin of Arizona, archaeologists found five prayer sticks thought to date to the 13th or 14th centuries. Preserved in the dry, tomb-like conditions of the cave, one of them showed signs of carving, and was painted in such a way as to resemble a Kachina Doll.  There are also numerous examples of possible Kachina mask iconography on pottery, stone, clay, and Kiva wall murals from as early as the Basketmaker II period (which began around 1500 BC). Burials from that earlier period include individuals with face paint, and even a possible dear-head mask found by an archaeologist named C.T Hurst. Notice that I keep saying possible- this is all very interpretive. That being said, the sparsity of examples of masks and costumes is still strange. The conditions of the plateau lead to good preservation of perishable items like textiles and sandals, so if something like the Kachina ceremonies were practiced by the ancestral puebloans, where are all the masks? One possible explanation is that given how much these masks are treasured by modern pueblo tribes, they would likely not be left behind, even after a settlement was abandoned. On the other hand, some archaeologists, like Polly and Curtis Schaafsma have suggested that the Kachina cult may have spread from south of the Mogollon Rim in the early 1300s, near the tail end of the Pueblo III period, but again, we don’t know for sure.

​Other gods and mythical figures are easier to see in the archaeological record. One pottery vessel found at an unnamed ancestral puebloan site dating to 1100-1150 A.D. is shaped like the flute player, a humpbacked trickster god. The vessel has arms made from ropes of clay, and little hands carved holding the flute, which extends out like a handle. Remember, the ancestral puebloans were at their height from 900-1350, so that’s right in their heyday. Petroglyphs depicting the flute player can be found from the same period. The Horned Serpent, called Avanyu by the Tewa, is another example of a modern pueblo god with ancient roots. According to Dr. Polly Schaafsma, “The serpent may be associated with the four directions, the colors of which the snakes also assume. Nevertheless, the Pueblo horned serpent is primarily a water serpent, an ambiguous entity both feared and respected. … His home is in springs, ponds, rivers, and ultimately the oceans, all believed to be connected under the earth’s surface, and … may cause torrential rains and floods.” (That quote’s from her article “Quetzalcoatl and the Horned and Feathered Serpent of the Southwest.”) There’s evidence in rock art and iconography that the mythic symbol of the horned serpent goes back at least to the early 1300s. Moreover, It bears many similarities to the feathered serpent of mesoamerica, which has led some archaeologists to suggest that this symbol spread north from there. The horned serpent is also commonly found associated with star figures, which leads us to the subject of astronomy.

By Larry Lamsa - Flickr: Petroglyphs, Mortendad Cave, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20694894

There’s one statement about ancestral puebloan mythology that we can say with some certainty: The movements of the heavenly bodies were important to them.  Solstices would have marked special religious occasions like dances and ceremonies. Important moments in the growing season would be timed using the heavens … stars and planets would have been associated with gods, and myths, imbued with symbolic meaning. That’s an interesting cultural shift I think, looking at it from our modern perspective. Ironically, for a space age society, we don’t give much thought to the heavens. Those of us from major cities rarely even see the stars, let alone are able to recognize any constellations. People who live in more rural areas can probably only name a few. Maybe orion, or the big dipper. Maybe they can spot the pleiades. There are very few people today who can not only identify most of the stars, but can do so at any time of the year. The stars rotate around us like they’re pasted on the inside of a hollow sphere. That’s what the “firmament” is, the shell of constellations that encase us. You have to visualize how they’re going to move throughout the year, and some constellations dip below the horizon at different times of night, and change with the seasons. When understood, this is a natural navigation system that would have been extremely useful to the ancestral puebloans. While in principle you might only need to know a few constellations or stars to navigate- like Orion, to find east and west, and Polaris, to find north, they’re only useful if they’re not obscured by clouds. But the more stars you know, the more you can do with even a small, random patch of visible sky. They were probably watching the stars since childhood, and putting their knowledge of those stars to practical use in daily life.

Modern Pueblo tribes still place great meaning in the movements of the heavens. The Hopi celebrate the Soyal ceremony to mark the winter solstice and the return of the Kachinas from their home in the San Fransisco Mountains. The Zuni celebrate their Sha’lak’o dance at the same time, and it marks the beginning of a long preparation for the upcoming planting season. The Tewa village of Ohkay Owingeh holds a four day observance to close out the year. These rituals are all tied to elaborate ceremonial calendars, and they knit together the stars, mythology, and agriculture. The Zuni even appointed a special Sun Watcher, an inherited position passed down through ancestral lines. According to Dan Simplicio from the Crow Canyon Archaeological Institute, “The Sun Watcher’s main responsibility was to regulate the movement of the sun, making sure the rate was balanced- not going too fast, nor too slow.” This obsession with the sky isn’t too unusual. From Ancient Egypt to the Inca, ancient people were aware of the celestial bodies in a way modern people just aren’t. It’s no coincidence that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus only a couple days after the winter solstice.

​At Chaco canyon, many of the buildings are oriented on a north south axis. These include the largest great house in the valley, Pueblo Bonito. Great Kivas are oriented the same way. Well known excavated examples include Casa Rinconada and the great Kiva at Aztec West- that’s another Chaco great house. According to Dr. Ruth Van Dyke, “the cardinal orientation of Pueblo Bonito showcases patterns of shadow and light that correspond to the equinox- the midpoint of the sun’s journey on the horizon- reinforcing the position of this canyon great house as a center place within the larger universe .” (Essay titled “Chaco’s Sacred Geography”) They may have also oriented some structures to emphasize the moon at certain points in its 18.6 year cycles. For example, on the minor lunar standstill, the full moon rises directly along the back wall of Chetro Ketl, another Chaco great house. At Hovenweep Castle, there are several wall ports that may have been used as a solar calendar, tracking the movement of sun beams where they struck interior walls.

​There are petroglyphs all over the Colorado plateau with astronomical significance. The most famous is the sun dagger glyph. The sun dagger is a large spiral petroglyph carved into the rock beneath a mesa called Fajada Butte. On the summer and winter solstices, the spiral is bisected by a sliver of light passing between a series of boulders that surround the glyph. The days of the equinox are marked by another beam of light that crosses a smaller secondary spiral, and the effect is most intense on the morning of the vernal equinox. This kind of petroglyph can be found all across the southwest. I was once shown a similar spiral solstice marker in the Ute Tribal Mountain Park, near Mesa Verde in Colorado. Astrophysicist and archaeoastronomer J. Mckim Malville says, “Among the modern pueblo indians, universal harmony is maintained through correct and careful performance of rites and ceremonies at specific times of the year. Cyclical time puts one in touch with eternity, as time may seem to be collapsed to a point, “the still point of the turning world.] He goes on, suggesting, “Every winter solstice, the chacoan community may have celebrated the beginning of time with ceremonies and dances. Perhaps the people of Chaco also participated in sacred lunar time, and every 18.6 years, when the moon’s shadow touched the edge of the Fajada spiral, and the moon rose between the spires of Chimney rock, sacred time might again have been celebrated in the canyon and beyond.” (Essay titled Sacred Time in Chaco Canyon and beyond.)