Sky Father/Sky Chief Mythology: Great spirit, Great Mystery, and Great Father

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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“The Great Spirt and the Evil one Native American (Navajo): the Fathers of All Fathers. The Supreme Being. The Father of the Holy People. The Great Spirit. (watches us by light like sun light or moon light) = Sky Father creator and maker to all things, corn pollen prayer are offered, sacred stone offering to, protect us by the light of the sun. The Great Spirit is a common reference among many Native American Tribes.” ref, ref

There are three types of the Great Spirit thinking (to me):

1. Great Spirit (animistic type): “Great Mystery” likely no referred gender.
2. Great Spirit (totemistic/shamanistic type): “Great Spirit” is likely not fully seen as a god/goddess-type spirit, it could be an animal but may have male or female gender.
3. Great Spirit (paganistic type): “Great/High God” likely a male gender commonly related to the sun or blue/clear sky.

The Great Spirit

“The Great Spirit” is the English translation of the name of the creator god in many Native American traditions, particularly Algonquian and Siouan tribes. Since Algonquian tribes were the first Native American cultures encountered by English speakers, “Great Spirit” became a common term referring to Native American creator deities in general, and was also frequently used as the word for “God” in translations of Christian texts into Native American languages. Indeed, many Native American people consider the Great Spirit and the Christian God to be one and the same. Other Native American people are less receptive to this idea, believing that today’s notion of the Great Spirit was mostly constructed by missionaries. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle– many Native American tribal traditions definitely did include some form of the Great Spirit in their creation myths and religious rituals, but some tribes never had such traditions until after colonization. And in other tribes, while there had always been the belief in a Great Spirit or Great Mystery that provided order to the spiritual world, this belief system became significantly altered after contact with Christianity, and modern conceptions of the Native American Great Spirit may not be a very accurate representation of the original Native spirituality.” ref 

“Makunaima: High God, Creator, “God” or “Great Spirit” but not personified. Tribal affiliation: Akawaio, Pemon, Macusi, Carib. Related figures in other tribes: Kururumany (Arawak). The Sun, the Frog, and the Fire-Sticks: A Guyanese Carib legend about Makunaima and his twin brother Pia.” ref 

Raweno: High god, Creator, Great Spirit

“Raweno is the great creator god of the Mohawk and Huron tribes. The name “Raweno” comes from words meaning “great voice” or “great ruler” in the Iroquois languages.” ref 

Saya: creator god

“Saya is the benevolent culture hero of the Beaver tribe, a heroic monster-slayer, and friend to mankind, though there are some Beaver stories about him that are humorous in nature.” ref

Beaver Legends, Myths and Stories

“Beaver tribe (also known as the Dane-zaa, Dunne-za, or Danezaa,) the traditional stories of related tribes like the Sekani and Chipewyan are very similar.” ref

“High God, in anthropology and the history of religion, a type of supreme deity found among many nonliterate peoples of North and South America, Africa, northern Asia, and Australia. The adjective high is primarily a locative term: a High God is conceived as being utterly transcendent, removed from the world that he created. A High God is high in the sense that he lives in or is identified with the sky—hence, the alternative name. Among North American Indians and Central and South Africans, thunder is thought to be the voice of the High God. In Siberia the sun and moon are considered the High God’s eyes. He is connected with food and heaven among American Indians.” ref

“Though the pattern varies from people to people, the High God usually is conceived as masculine or sexless. He is thought to be the sole creator of heaven and earth. Although he is omnipotent and omniscient, he is thought to have withdrawn from his creation and therefore to be inaccessible to prayer or sacrifice. Generally, no graphic images of him exist, nor does he receive cult worship or appear in the mythology. If he is invoked, it is only in times of extreme distress, but there is no guarantee that he will hear or respond. His name often is revealed only to initiates, and to speak his name aloud is thought to invite disaster or death; his most frequent title is Father. In some traditions he is conceived to be a transcendent principle of divine order; in others he is pictured as senile or impotent and replaced by a set of more active and involved deities; and in still other traditions he has become so remote that he is all but forgotten.” ref

“In comparative mythology, sky father is a term for a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a “father”, often the father of a pantheon and is often either a reigning or former King of the Gods. The concept of “sky father” may also be taken to include Sun gods with similar characteristics, such as Ra. The concept is complementary to an “earth mother. “Sky Father” is a direct translation of the Vedic Dyaus Pita, etymologically descended from the same Proto-Indo-European deity name as the Greek Zeûs Pater and Roman Jupiter, all of which are reflexes of the same Proto-Indo-European deity’s name, *Dyēus Ph₂tḗr. While there are numerous parallels adduced from outside of Indo-European mythology, there are exceptions (e.g. In Egyptian mythology, Nut is the sky mother and Geb is the earth father).” ref

“The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky. The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson‘s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature reflects this by separating the category of “Sky-god” (A210) from that of “Star-god” (A250). In mythology, nighttime gods are usually known as night deities and gods of stars simply as star gods. Both of these categories are included here since they relate to the sky. Luminary deities are included as well since the sun and moon are located in the sky. Some religions may also have a deity or personification of the day, distinct from the god of the day lit sky, to complement the deity or personification of the night.” ref

“Daytime gods (blue sky) and nighttime (dark sky) gods are frequently deities of an “upper world” or “celestial world” as opposed to the earth and a “netherworld” (gods of the underworld are sometimes called “chthonic” deities). Within Greek mythology, Uranus was the primordial sky god, who was ultimately succeeded by Zeus, who ruled the celestial realm atop Mount Olympus. In contrast to the celestial Olympians was the chthonic deity Hades, who ruled the underworld, and Poseidon, who ruled the sea. Any masculine sky god is often also king of the gods, taking the position of patriarch within a pantheon. Such king gods are collectively categorized as “sky father” deities, with a polarity between sky and earth often being expressed by pairing a “sky father” god with an “earth mother” goddess (pairings of a sky mother with an earth father are less frequent).” ref

“A main sky goddess is often the queen of the gods and may be an air/sky goddess in her own right, though she usually has other functions as well with “sky” not being her main. In antiquity, several sky goddesses in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Near East were called Queen of Heaven. Gods may rule the sky as a pair (for example, ancient Semitic supreme god El and the fertility goddess Asherah whom he was most likely paired with). The following is a list of sky deities in various polytheistic traditions arranged mostly by language family, which is typically a better indicator of relatedness than geography.” ref

“El (deity), El (/ɛl/ EL; also ‘Il, Ugaritic: 𐎛𐎍 ʾīlu; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤋 ʾīl;  Hebrew: אֵל ʾēl; Syriac: ܐܺܝܠ ʾīyl; Arabic: إل ʾil or إله ʾilāh; cognate to Akkadian: 𒀭, romanized: ilu) is a Northwest Semitic word meaning ‘god’ or ‘deity‘, or referring (as a proper name) to any one of multiple major ancient Near Eastern deities. A rarer form, ‘ila, represents the predicate form in the Old Akkadian and Amorite languages. The word is derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʔil-. Specific deities known as ‘El, ‘Al, or ‘Il include the supreme god of the ancient Canaanite religion and the supreme god of East Semitic speakers in Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia. Among the Hittites, El was known as Elkunirsa (Hittite: 𒂖𒆪𒉌𒅕𒊭 Elkunīrša). Although El gained different appearances and meanings in different languages over time, it continues to exist as -il or -el in compound proper noun phrases such as Ishmael, Israel, Samuel, Daniel, Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel.” ref

“Cognate forms of El are found throughout the Semitic languages. They include Ugaritic ʾilu, pl. ʾlm; Phoenician ʾl pl. ʾlm; Hebrew ʾēl, pl. ʾēlîm; Aramaic ʾl; Akkadian ilu, pl. ilānu. In northwest Semitic use, ʼel was a generic word for any god as well as the special name or title of a particular god who was distinguished from other gods as being “the god.” El is listed at the head of many pantheons. In some Canaanite and Ugaritic sources, El played a role as father of the gods, of creation, or both. However, because the word el sometimes refers to a god other than the great god El, it is frequently ambiguous as to whether El followed by another name means the great god El with a particular epithet applied or refers to another god entirely. For example, in the Ugaritic texts, ʾil mlk is understood to mean “El the King” but ʾil hd as “the god Hadad.” ref

“The Semitic root ʾlh (Arabic ʾilāh, Aramaic ʾAlāh, ʾElāh, Hebrew ʾelōah) may be ʾl with a parasitic h, and ʾl may be an abbreviated form of ʾlh. In Ugaritic the plural form meaning “gods” is ʾilhm, equivalent to Hebrew ʾ^elōhîm “powers”. In the Hebrew texts this word is interpreted as being semantically singular for “god” by biblical commentators. However, according to the documentary hypothesis, at least four different authors – the Jahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D), and Priestly (P) sources – were responsible for editing stories from a polytheistic religion into those of a monotheistic religion. These sources were joined together at various points in time by a series of editors or “redactors.” Inconsistencies that arise between monotheism and polytheism in the texts are reflective of this hypothesis. The stem ʾl is found prominently in the earliest strata of east Semitic, northwest Semitic, and south Semitic groups. Personal names including the stem ʾl are found with similar patterns in both the Amorite and Sabaic languages.” ref

“The Hebrew form (אל) appears in Latin letters in Standard Hebrew transcription as El and in Tiberian Hebrew transcription as ʾĒl. ʼel is a generic word for god that could be used for any god, including Hadad, Moloch, or Yahweh. In the Tanakh, ‘^elōhîm is the normal word for a god or the great God (or gods, given that the ‘im’ suffix makes a word plural in Hebrew). But the form ‘El also appears, mostly in poetic passages and in the patriarchal narratives attributed to the Priestly source of the documentary hypothesis. It occurs 217 times in the Masoretic Text: seventy-three times in the Psalms and fifty-five times in the Book of Job, and otherwise mostly in poetic passages or passages written in elevated prose. It occasionally appears with the definite article as hā’Ēl ‘the god’ (for example in 2 Samuel 22:31,33–48).” ref

“The theological position of the Tanakh is that the names ʼĒl and ‘Ĕlōhîm, when used in the singular to mean the supreme god, refer to Yahweh, beside whom other gods are supposed to be either nonexistent or insignificant. Whether this was a long-standing belief or a relatively new one has long been the subject of inconclusive scholarly debate about the prehistory of the sources of the Tanakh and about the prehistory of Israelite religion. In the P strand, Exodus 6:3 may be translated:

I revealed myself to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai, but was not known to them by my name, YHWH.” ref

“However, it is said in Genesis 14:18–20 that Abraham accepted the blessing of El, when Melchizedek, the king of Salem and high priest of its deity El Elyon blessed him. One scholarly position is that the identification of Yahweh with El is late, that Yahweh was earlier thought of as only one of many gods, and not normally identified with El. Another is that in much of the Hebrew Bible, the name El is an alternative name for Yahweh, but in the Elohist and Priestly traditions it is considered an earlier name than Yahweh. Mark Smith has argued that Yahweh and El were originally separate, but were considered synonymous from very early on. The name Yahweh is used in Genesis 2:4, while Genesis 4:26 says that at that time, people began to “call upon the name of the LORD”. El’s title of “El Shadday“, which envisions him as the “god of the steppe”, may also derive from the cultural beliefs of Upper Mesopotamian (i.e. Amurru) immigrants, who were ancestors of the Israelites.” ref

“In some places, especially in Psalm 29, Yahweh is clearly envisioned as a storm god, something not true of El so far as scholars know (although true of his son, Ba’al Haddad). It is Yahweh who is prophesied to one day battle Leviathan the serpent, and slay the dragon in the sea in Isaiah 27:1. The slaying of the serpent in myth is a deed attributed to both Ba’al Hadad and ‘Anat in the Ugaritic texts, but not to El. But some scholars argue that “El Shadday” reflects a conception of El as a storm god. Such mythological motifs are variously seen as late survivals from a period when Yahweh held a place in theology comparable to that of Hadad at Ugarit; or as late henotheistic/monotheistic applications to Yahweh of deeds more commonly attributed to Hadad; or simply as examples of eclectic application of the same motifs and imagery to various different gods.” ref

“Similarly, it is argued inconclusively whether Ēl Shaddāi, Ēl ‘Ôlām, Ēl ‘Elyôn, and so forth, were originally understood as separate divinities. Albrecht Alt presented his theories on the original differences of such gods in Der Gott der Väter in 1929. But others have argued that from patriarchal times, these different names were generally understood to refer to the same single great god, El. This is the position of Frank Moore Cross (1973). What is certain is that the form ‘El does appear in Israelite names from every period including the name Yiśrā’ēl (“Israel”), meaning “El strives.” ref

“According to The Oxford Companion to World Mythology,

It seems almost certain that the God of the Jews evolved gradually from the Canaanite El, who was in all likelihood the “God of Abraham” … If El was the high God of Abraham—Elohim, the prototype of Yahveh—Asherah was his wife, and there are archaeological indications that she was perceived as such before she was in effect “divorced” in the context of emerging Judaism of the 7th century BCE. (See 2 Kings 23:15.)” ref

“The apparent plural form ‘Ēlîm or ‘Ēlim “gods” occurs only four times in the Tanakh. Psalm 29, understood as an enthronement psalm, begins:

A Psalm of David.
Ascribe to Yahweh, sons of Gods (b^ênê ‘Ēlîm),
Ascribe to Yahweh, glory and strength” ref

“Psalm 89:6 (verse 7 in Hebrew) has:

For who in the skies compares to Yahweh,
who can be likened to Yahweh among the sons of Gods (b^ênê ‘Ēlîm).” ref

“Traditionally b^ênê ‘ēlîm has been interpreted as ‘sons of the mighty’, ‘mighty ones’, for ‘El can mean ‘mighty’, though such use may be metaphorical (compare the English expression [by] God awful). It is possible also that the expression ‘ēlîm in both places descends from an archaic stock phrase in which ‘lm was a singular form with the m-enclitic and therefore to be translated as ‘sons of El’. The m-enclitic appears elsewhere in the Tanakh and in other Semitic languages. Its meaning is unknown, possibly simply emphasis. It appears in similar contexts in Ugaritic texts where the expression bn ‘il alternates with bn ‘ilm, but both must mean ‘sons of El’. That phrase with m-enclitic also appears in Phoenician inscriptions as late as the fifth century BCE.” ref

“One of the other two occurrences in the Tanakh is in the “Song of Moses“, Exodus 15:11a:

Who is like you among the Gods (‘ēlim), Yahweh?” ref

“The final occurrence is in Daniel 11:36:

And the king will do according to his pleasure; and he will exalt himself and magnify himself over every god (‘ēl), and against the God of Gods (‘El ‘Elîm) he will speak outrageous things, and will prosper until the indignation is accomplished: for that which is decided will be done.” ref

“There are a few cases in the Tanakh where some think ‘El is not equated with Yahweh. One example is found in Ezekiel 28:2, in the taunt against a man who claims to be divine, in this instance, the leader of Tyre:

Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: “Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because your heart is proud and you have said: “I am ‘ēl (god), in the seat of ‘^elōhîm (gods), I am enthroned in the middle of the seas.” Yet you are man and not ‘El even though you have made your heart like the heart of ‘^elōhîm (‘gods’).” ref

“Here ‘ēl might refer to a generic god, or to a highest god, El. When viewed as applying to the King of Tyre specifically, the king was probably not thinking of Yahweh. When viewed as a general taunt against anyone making divine claims, it may or may not refer to Yahweh depending on the context. In Judges 9:46 we find ‘Ēl B^êrît ‘God of the Covenant’, seemingly the same as the Ba’al B^êrît ‘Lord of the Covenant’ whose worship has been condemned a few verses earlier. See Baal for a discussion of this passage.” ref

“Psalm 82:1 says:

‘^elōhîm (“god”) stands in the council of ‘ēl
he judges among the gods (Elohim).” ref

“This could mean that Yahweh judges along with many other gods as one of the council of the high god El. However it can also mean that Yahweh stands in the Divine Council (generally known as the Council of El), as El judging among the other members of the council. The following verses in which the god condemns those whom he says were previously named gods (Elohim) and sons of the Most High suggest the god here is in fact El judging the lesser gods.” ref

“An archaic phrase appears in Isaiah 14:13, kôkk^êbê ‘ēl ‘stars of God’, referring to the circumpolar stars that never set, possibly especially to the seven stars of Ursa Major. The phrase also occurs in the Pyrgi Inscription as hkkbm ‘l (preceded by the definite article h and followed by the m-enclitic). Two other apparent fossilized expressions are arzê-‘ēl ‘cedars of God’ (generally translated something like ‘mighty cedars’, ‘goodly cedars’) in Psalm 80:10 (in Hebrew verse 11) and k^êharrê-‘ēl ‘mountains of God’ (generally translated something like ‘great mountains’, ‘mighty mountains’) in Psalm 36:7 (in Hebrew verse 6).” ref

“For the reference in some texts of Deuteronomy 32:8 to seventy sons of God corresponding to the seventy sons of El in the Ugaritic texts, see `Elyôn. It has been argued that in the supposed original version of Deuteronomy 32, as preserved in the Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Yahweh was described as a son of El, although some scholars disagree with this view. That said, there are verses where El and Yahweh are unambiguously conflated (Numbers 23:8) but some scholars believe this is an attempt to portray El as a warrior god, as Israelite society grew and evolved into a nation-state.” ref

“In addition, Michael Heiser states that texts that were contemporaneously produced with the Book of Deuteronomy (e.g. the 8th century text of Isaiah 10:13) already credit the deeds of El to Yahweh and that separating El and Yahweh is ‘internally inconsistent’ within the Book of Deuteronomy (e.g. Deuteronomy 4:19–20, Deuteronomy 32:6–7). According to Heiser, it also raises the question on why the Deuteronomists would be so careless to introduce this error, especially a few verses later, and why they didn’t quickly remove them as ‘intolerant monotheists’.” ref

“Yahwism, as it is called by modern scholars, was the religion of ancient Israel and Judah. An ancient Semitic religion of the Iron Age, Yahwism was essentially polytheistic and had a pantheon, with various gods and goddesses being worshipped by the Israelites. At the head of this pantheon was Yahweh, held in an especially high regard as the two Israelite kingdoms’ national god. Some scholars hold that the goddess Asherah was worshipped as Yahweh’s consort, though other scholars disagree. Following this duo were second-tier gods and goddesses, such as Baal, Shamash, Yarikh, Mot, and Astarte, each of whom had their own priests and prophets and numbered royalty among their devotees. The practices of Yahwism included festivals, ritual sacrifices, vow-making, private rituals, and the religious adjudication of legal disputes. For most of its history, the Temple in Jerusalem was not the sole or central place of worship dedicated to Yahweh, with many locations throughout Israel, Judah, and Samaria. However, it was still significant to the Israelite king, who effectively led the national religion as the national god’s worldly viceroy.” ref

“Yahwism underwent several redevelopments and recontextualizations as the notion of divinities aside from or comparable to Yahweh was gradually degraded by new religious currents and ideas. Possibly beginning with the hypothesized United Kingdom of Israel, the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah had a joint religious tradition comprising cultic worship of Yahweh. Later theological changes concerning the evolution of Yahweh’s status initially remained largely confined to small groups, only spreading to the population at large during the general political turbulence of the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. By the end of the Babylonian captivity, Yahwism began turning away from polytheism (or, by some accounts, Yahweh-centric monolatry) and transitioned towards monotheism, where Yahweh was proclaimed as the creator deity and the only entity worthy of worship. Following the end of the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent establishment of Yehud Medinata in the 4th century BCE, Yahwism coalesced into what is known as Second Temple Judaism, from which the modern ethnic religions of Judaism and Samaritanism, as well as the Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Islam, would later emerge.” ref

“Philo of Byblos (c. 64–141 AD) was a Greek writer whose account Sanchuniathon survives in quotation by Eusebius and may contain the major surviving traces of Phoenician mythology. El (rendered Elus or called by his standard Greek counterpart Cronus) is not the creator god or first god. El is rather the son of Sky (Uranus) and Earth (Ge). Sky and Earth are themselves children of ‘Elyôn ‘Most High’. El is brother to the God Bethel, to Dagon and to an unknown god, equated with the Greek Atlas and to the goddesses Aphrodite/‘Ashtart, Rhea (presumably Asherah), and Dione (equated with Ba’alat Gebal). El is the father of Persephone and of Athena (presumably the goddess ‘Anat).” ref

“Sky and Earth have separated from one another in hostility, but Sky insists on continuing to force himself on Earth and attempts to destroy the children born of such unions. At last, with the advice of his daughter Athena and the god Hermes Trismegistus (perhaps Thoth), El successfully attacks his father Sky with a sickle and spear of iron. He and his military allies the Eloim gain Sky’s kingdom. In a later passage it is explained that El castrated Sky. One of Sky’s concubines (who was given to El’s brother Dagon) was already pregnant by Sky. The son who is born of the union, called Demarûs or Zeus, but once called Adodus, is obviously Hadad, the Ba’al of the Ugaritic texts who now becomes an ally of his grandfather Sky and begins to make war on El.” ref

“El has three wives, his sisters or half-sisters Aphrodite/Astarte (‘Ashtart), Rhea (presumably Asherah), and Dione (identified by Sanchuniathon with Ba’alat Gebal the tutelary goddess of Byblos, a city which Sanchuniathon says that El founded). El is depicted primarily as a warrior; in Ugaritic sources Baal has the warrior role and El is peaceful, and it may be that the Sanchuniathon depicts an earlier tradition that was more preserved in the southern regions of Canaan. Eusebius, through whom the Sanchuniathon is preserved, is not interested in setting the work forth completely or in order. But we are told that El slew his own son Sadidus (a name that some commentators think might be a corruption of Shaddai, one of the epithets of the Biblical El) and that El also beheaded one of his daughters.” ref

“Later, perhaps referring to this same death of Sadidus we are told:

But on the occurrence of a pestilence and mortality Cronus offers his only begotten son as a whole burnt-offering to his father Sky and circumcises himself, compelling his allies also to do the same.” ref

“A fuller account of the sacrifice appears later:

It was a custom of the ancients in great crises of danger for the rulers of a city or nation, in order to avert the common ruin, to give up the most beloved of their children for sacrifice as a ransom to the avenging daemons; and those who were thus given up were sacrificed with mystic rites. Cronus then, whom the Phoenicians call Elus, who was king of the country and subsequently, after his decease, was deified as the star Saturn, had by a nymph of the country named Anobret an only begotten son, whom they on this account called Iedud, the only begotten being still so called among the Phoenicians; and when very great dangers from war had beset the country, he arrayed his son in royal apparel, and prepared an altar, and sacrificed him.” ref

“The account also relates that Thoth:

also devised for Cronus as insignia of royalty four eyes in front and behind … but two of them quietly closed, and upon his shoulders four wings, two as spread for flying, and two as folded. And the symbol meant that Cronus could see when asleep, and sleep while waking: and similarly in the case of the wings, that he flew while at rest, and was at rest when flying. But to each of the other gods he gave two wings upon the shoulders, as meaning that they accompanied Cronus in his flight. And to Cronus himself again he gave two wings upon his head, one representing the all-ruling mind, and one sensation.” ref

“This is the form under which El/Cronus appears on coins from Byblos from the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BCE) four spread wings and two folded wings, leaning on a staff. Such images continued to appear on coins until after the time of Augustus. A bilingual inscription from Palmyra dated to the 1st century equates El-Creator-of-the-Earth with the Greek god Poseidon. Going back to the 8th century BCE, the bilingual inscription at Karatepe in the Taurus Mountains equates El-Creator-of-the-Earth to Luwian hieroglyphs read as ^da-a-ś, this being the Luwian form of the name of the Babylonian water god Ea, lord of the abyss of water under the earth. (This inscription lists El in second place in the local pantheon, following Ba’al Shamîm and preceding the Eternal Sun.)” ref

“Earth Mother, in ancient and modern nonliterate religions, an eternally fruitful source of everything. Unlike the variety of female fertility deities called mother goddesses (q.v.), the Earth Mother is not a specific source of vitality who must periodically undergo sexual intercourse. She is simply the mother; there is nothing separate from her. All things come from her, return to her, and are her. The most archaic form of the Earth Mother transcends all specificity and sexuality. She simply produces everything, inexhaustibly, from herself. She may manifest herself in any form. In other mythological systems she becomes a more limited figure. She becomes the feminine Earth, consort of the masculine sky; she is fertilized by the sky in the beginning and brings forth terrestrial creation. Even more limited reflections of the Earth Mother occur in those agricultural traditions in which she is simply the Earth and its fertility.” ref

“Earth Mother,” “Mother Earth,” or a mother goddess is a major goddess characterized as a mother or progenitor, either as an embodiment of motherhood and fertility or fulfilling the cosmological role of a creator- and/or destroyer-figure, typically associated the Earth, sky, and/or the life-giving bounties thereof in a maternal relation with humanity or other gods. When equated in this lattermost function with the earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as the Mother Earth or Earth Mother, deity in various animistic or pantheistic religions. The earth goddess is archetypally the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky Father or Father Heaven, particularly in theologies derived from the Proto-Indo-European sphere (i.e. from Dheghom and Dyeus). In some polytheistic cultures, such as the Ancient Egyptian religion which narrates the cosmic egg myth, the sky is instead seen as the Heavenly Mother or Sky Mother as in Nut and Hathor, and the earth god is regarded as the male, paternal, and terrestrial partner, as in Osiris or Geb who hatched out of the maternal cosmic egg.” ref

“In Egyptian mythology, sky goddess Nut is sometimes called “Mother” because she bore stars and Sun god. Nut was thought to draw the dead into her star-filled sky, and refresh them with food and wine. In Kongo religion, the Sky Mother, Nzambici, was the female counterpart of the Sky Father and Solar god, Nzambi Mpungu. Originally, they were seen as one spirit with one half male and the other half female. After the introduction of Christianity to Central Africa, the description of Nzambi changed to Creator God and Nzambici to his wife, “God the essence, the god on earth, the great princess, the mother of all the animals, and the mystery of the Earth.” ref

“In Hinduism, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Radha, Parvati, Durga and other goddesses represents both the feminine aspect and the shakti (power) of the supreme being known as the Brahman. The divine mother goddess, manifests herself in various forms, representing the universal creative force. She becomes Mother Nature (Mula Prakriti), who gives birth to all life forms and nourishes them through her body. Ultimately she re-absorbs all life forms back into herself, or “devours” them to sustain herself as the power of death feeding on life to produce new life. She also gives rise to Maya (the illusory world) and to prakriti, the force that galvanizes the divine ground of existence into self-projection as the cosmos.” ref

“The Shakti sect is strongly associated with Samkhya, and Tantra Hindu philosophies and ultimately, is monist. The primordial feminine creative-preservative-destructive energy, Shakti, is considered to be the motive force behind all action and existence in the phenomenal cosmos. The cosmos itself is purusha, the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality that is the divine ground of all being, the “world soul”. This masculine potential is actualized by feminine dynamism, embodied in multitudinous goddesses who are ultimately all manifestations of the one great mother. Shakti, herself, can free the individual from demons of ego, ignorance, and desire that bind the soul in maya (illusion). Practitioners of the Tantric tradition focus on Shakti to free themselves from the cycle of karma. The worship of the mother deity can be traced back to early Vedic culture. The Rigveda calls the divine female power Mahimata (R.V. 1.164.33) which means “great mother.” ref

“Atíʼas Tirawa, which means “Our Father Above” in the Pawnee language (often translated, inaccurately, as “Great Spirit”), was the creator god. Another variant, perhaps most used, is Tirawahat.  He was believed to have taught the Pawnee people tattooing, fire-building, hunting, agriculture, speech and clothing, religious rituals (including the use of tobacco and sacred bundles), and sacrifices. He was associated with most natural phenomena, including stars and planets, wind, lightning, rain, and thunder. The wife of Tirawa was Atira, goddess of the Earth. Atira (literally, Mother Corn) was associated with corn.” ref

“The male Morning Star in the East was believed to be created first. Being the war god he wore the dress of a warrior.  After him came the female Evening Star in the West.  She resisted the divine plan to create humankind. Morning Star had to fight and overcome a number of forces in the western sky with his fireball to finally mate with her. The first human being thus created was a girl. Six major stars represented other gods controlled by Tirawahut. Two of them were the female Southwest and Northwest Stars. The male stars were the North, the Northeast, the Southeast and the South Stars.” ref

“Some had specific tasks to fulfill:

• The North Star was the son of South Star. He watched over the people and had to keep his post.
• Northeast Star (or Big Black Meteoric Star) controlled the animals, in particular the bison. He was also in charge of the shift from day to night.  According to some Skidis, this unidentified and enigmatic star was a buffalo bull carrying the heaven on his back.  The mythology of the South Bands does not mention this god at all and only a number of the other star gods.
• Southeast Star (or Red Star) regulated the coming of day and had authority among the animals.
• South Star rose sometimes on the heaven to see if his son (North Star) remained on his fixed position. South Star ruled in the land of the dead. He received no prayers and no ceremony was held in his name.  Paths in the Milky Way guided the dead human beings to his dominion.” ref 

“The Thunder, the Lightning, the Cloud and the Wind were four great powers in the west. They obeyed the Evening Star. By means of constant song they generated the Earth on which the first girl (the child of Evening and Morning Stars) was placed. The solar and lunar deities were Shakuru and Pah, respectively. They were the last of all gods placed in the heavens.  Their offspring was a boy, and he was put on Earth, too. Aside from this, the Sun and the Moon are of relatively minor standing in the Skidi Pawnee mythology.” ref

“Meteorites brought good fortune to the finders. They were seen as the children of Tirawahut sent down to Earth. While the Skidi Pawnee relied a great deal on the powers and the aid of stars and other objects in cosmos, the South Bands came through foremost by the assistance and advice of a number of animals. Yet, the gods in heaven existed, and the animals acted as go-betweens when they instructed and guided the South Bands.” ref 

“The White Beaver ceremony of the Chawi served nearly the same purpose as the renewing or restarting Spring Awakening ceremony (Thunder ceremony) of the Skidi. However hibernating animals were revitalized through this rite rather than the renewal of corn crops. Tirawa conferred miraculous powers on certain animals. These spirit animals, the nahurac, would act as Tirawa’s messengers and servants, and could intercede with him on behalf of the Pawnee.” ref

“The nahurac had five dwellings or lodges:

• The foremost among them was Pahuk, usually translated “hill island”, a bluff on the south side of the Platte River, near the town of Cedar Bluffsin present-day Saunders County, Nebraska.

• Lalawakohtito, or “dark island”, was an island in the Platte near Central City, Nebraska.
• Ahkawitakol, or “white bank”, was on the Loup River opposite the mouth of the Cedar River in what is now Nance County, Nebraska.
• Kitzawitzuk, translated “water on a bank”, also known to the Pawnee as Pahowa, was a spring on the Solomon River near Glen Elder, Kansas. It now lies beneath the waters of Waconda Reservoir.
• The fifth lodge of the nahurac was known to the Pawnee as Pahur (/pa’hur/, translated as “hill that points the way” or “guide rock”).” ref

“The Pawnee seasonal rituals were tied to the observation of the stars and planets. Their earthwork lodges were built at the same time as observatories and as “microcosm” (scale-model of the universe). Each lodge “was at the same time the universe and also the womb of a woman, and the household activities represented her reproductive powers.” The lodge also represented the universe in a more practical way. The physical construction of the house required setting up four posts to represent the four cardinal directions, “aligned almost exactly with the north–south, east–west axis.”  A Pawnee observatory-lodge also required an unobstructed view of the eastern sky. The lodge’s axis would be oriented east–west in such a way that the sunrise of vernal equinox would cast light on the altar. The dimensions of the lodge’s smoke hole and door would be designed to allow observation of the sky, e.g. with the smoke-hole aligned to enable observation of the Pleiades.” ref

“According to one Skidi-band Pawnee man at the beginning of the twentieth century, “The Skidi were organized by the stars; these powers above made them into families and villages, and taught them how to live and how to perform their ceremonies. The shrines of the four leading villages were given by the four leading stars and represent those stars which guide and rule the people.” ref

“Regular ceremonies were performed before major events, such as semi-annual buffalo hunts. Kawaha, an often-besought god of good luck, was closely connected to buffalo hunts.  Many other important activities of the year were started with a ceremony, such as sowing seeds in the spring and harvesting in the fall.” ref

“The most important ceremony of the Pawnee culture, the Spring Awakening ceremony, was meant to awaken the earth and ready it for planting. It can be tied to celestial observation, held at the time when the priest first tracked “two small twinkling stars known as the Swimming Ducks in the northeastern horizon near the Milky Way.” and then heard a rolling thunder from the West.  (For the role of Thunder in the Creation myth).” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Sky Father/Sky Mother “High Gods” or similar gods/goddesses of the sky more loosely connected, seeming arcane mythology across the earth seen in Siberia, China, Europe, Native Americans/First Nations People and Mesopotamia, etc.

1. Tlingit language, “spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada, and is a branch of the Na-Dene language family: Dené–Yeniseian languages, suggesting that the Na-Dene languages (Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit) might be related to the Yeniseian (or Yeniseic) languages of Siberia, the only living representative of which is the Ket language. Dene–Yeniseian is a proposed language family consisting of the Yeniseian languages of central Siberia and the Na-Dene languages of northwestern North America.” ref, ref, ref

“Ket People/Yeniseian people: Kets are a Yeniseian-speaking people in Siberia. In the image of the High god Esi (sky god/great spirit/sky father), they personified the sky and connected to it nature’s phenomenon. In traditional culture, there is a combination of walking fishermen and taiga hunters with cultural elements such as the use of dugouts, food storage, fur coats, composed footwear, the Earth cult, animals, etc. For Southern Siberia and Central Asian nomadic people, common elements are their hut, tunic clothes, blacksmith trade, shamanism, etc. The Kets kept their traditional beliefs and cults that were formed on the basis of early mythological ideas about the world. The Kets are shamanistic people. They never had professional shamans though. The main function of shamans was to cure and predict. In the image of the High god Esi (sky god), they personified the sky and connected to it nature’s phenomenon. The Mistress of the North opposed him and the bearer of evil, Khocedem, was believed to send troubles, curses, plagues, and sicknesses. The South Mistress, named Tomem, was personified in the image of migrant birds. They had a cult of fire, family guardian spirits, and spirit-masters. Also, they had Alels, the guardians of home and family who were pictured in the forms of female figures.” ref, ref 

“The Yeniseians appear closely related to other Siberians, East Asians, and Native Americans. They display a high frequency of paternal haplogroup Q-M242. Q-M242 is the predominant Y-DNA haplogroup among Native Americans and several peoples of Central Asia and Northern Siberia. Frequency distribution of haplogroup Q-M242: Kets 93.8%, Indigenous peoples of South America 92%, Inuit 80%, Turkmens from Karakalpakstan (mainly Yomut) 73%, Selkups 66.4%. Altaians 63.6%., Tuvans (from Xinjiang) 62.5%., Chelkans 60.0%., Greenlandic Inuit 54%, Tubalar 41%, Siberian Tatars (Ishtyak-Tokuz Tatars) 38%, the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Akha people of northern Thailand, Mon-Khmer people and some tribes of Assam. Q-M242 is believed to have arisen around the Altai Mountains area (or South Central Siberia), approximately 17,000 to 31,700 years ago.” ref, ref

“In the indigenous people of North America, Q-M242 is found in Na-Dené speakers at an average rate of 68%. The highest frequency is 92.3% in Navajo, followed by 78.1% in Apache, 87% in SC Apache, and about 80% in North American Eskimo (Inuit, Yupik)–Aleut populations. (Q-M3 occupies 46% among Q in North America). On the other hand, a 4000-year-old Saqqaq individual belonging to Q1a-MEH2* has been found in Greenland. Surprisingly, he turned out to be genetically more closely related to Far East Siberians, such as Koryaks and Chukchi people rather than Native Americans. Today, the frequency of Q runs at 53.7% (122/227: 70 Q-NWT01, 52 Q-M3) in Greenland, showing the highest in east Sermersooq at 82% and the lowest in Qeqqata at 30%.” ref

“Several branches of haplogroup Q-M242 have been predominant pre-Columbian male lineages in indigenous peoples of the Americas. Most of them are descendants of the major founding groups who migrated from Asia into the Americas by crossing the Bering Strait. These small groups of founders must have included men from the Q-M346, Q-L54, Q-Z780, and Q-M3 lineages. In North America, two other Q-lineages also have been found. These are Q-P89.1 (under Q-MEH2) and Q-NWT01. They may not have been from the Beringia Crossings but instead came from later immigrants who traveled along the shoreline of Far East Asia and then the Americas using boats. It is unclear whether the current frequency of Q-M242 lineages represents their frequency at the time of immigration or is the result of the shifts in a small founder population over time. Regardless, Q-M242 came to dominate the paternal lineages in the Americas.” ref

“According to a 2016 study, the Ket and other Yeniseian people originated likely somewhere near the Altai Mountains or near Lake Baikal. It is suggested that parts of the Altaians are predominantly of Yeniseian origin and closely related to the Ket people. The Ket people are also closely related to several Native American groups. According to this study, the Yeniseians are linked to the Paleo-Eskimo groups. And haplogroup Q-M242 has been found in approximately 94% of Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and South America. Q-M242 originated in Asia (Altai region), and is widely distributed across it. In Siberia, the regions between Altai and Lake Baikal, which are famous for many prehistoric cultures and as the most likely birthplace of haplogroup Q, exhibit high frequencies of Q-M242. Q-M242 is found in Russia, Siberia (Kets, Selkups, Siberian Yupik people, Nivkhs, Chukchi people, Yukaghirs, Tuvans, Altai people, Koryaks, Mongolia, China, Uyghurs, Tibet, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and so on.” ref

“The ancestors of Yeniseian peoples may have been related to the Syalakh culture of ancient Yakutia. Yeniseian people, specifically Ket, also show high amounts of affinity towards Tuvans and other peoples of Siberia, suggesting that Yeniseian ancestry can be linked to Paleo-Siberians, which replaced previous Upper-Paleolithic Siberians (Ancient North Eurasian) as the dominant population, and were subsequently largely assimilated by Neo-Siberians from Northeast Asia. Ancient Yeniseian speakers can be associated with a Late Neolithic/Bronze Age ancestry in the Baikal area (Cisbaikal_LNBA or Baikal_EBA) maximized among hunter-gatherers of the local Glazkovo culture. They can be differentiated from the earlier ‘Early Neolithic Baikal hunter-gatherers’ associated with the Kitoi and Fofonovo cultures (Baikal_EN) and later Amur-derived (DevilsCave_N-like) groups.” ref

“Cisbaikal_LNBA ancestry is inferred to be rich in Ancient Paleo-Siberian ancestry, and also display affinity to Inner Northeast Asian (Yumin-like) groups. This type of ancestry has also been observed among Eastern Scythians (Saka) and made up nearly all of the ancestry (85-95%) from an outlier sample of the Karasuk culture (RISE497). Cisbaikal_LNBA ancestry later spread together with Glazkovo-type pottery to the forest zone of the Middle Angara, correlating with the supposed dispersal of Yeniseian languages, supporting a homeland in the Cis-Baikal region. Cisbaikal_LNBA has also been found at low amounts among Athabaskan speakers, lending support to the Dene-Yeniseian hypothesis. According to some researchers, the Yeniseian people are a result of reverse migration (from America to Asia). While modern-day Kets are derived from a Cisbaikal_LNBA-like source, they also display significant amounts of geneflow from Uralic-affiliated (Yakutia_LNBA) sources.” ref

2. Numic languages, Uto-Aztecan languages, “which include seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Plains. Numic: * Central Numic languages: Comanche, Timbisha (a dialect chain with main regional varieties being Western, Central, and Eastern). Shoshoni (a dialect chain with main regional varieties being Western, Gosiute, Northern, and Eastern) * Southern Numic languages: Kawaiisu, Colorado River (a dialect chain with main regional varieties being Chemehuevi, Southern Paiute, and Ute). * Western Numic languages: Mono (two main dialects: Eastern and Western), Northern Paiute (a dialect chain with main regional varieties being Southern Nevada, Northern Nevada, Oregon, and Bannock).” ref

“Apart from Comanche, each of these groups contains one language spoken in a small area in the southern Sierra Nevada and valleys to the east (Mono, Timbisha, and Kawaiisu), and one language spoken in a much larger area extending to the north and east (Northern Paiute, Shoshoni, and Colorado River). Some linguists have taken this pattern as an indication that Numic speaking peoples expanded quite recently from a small core, perhaps near the Owens Valley, into their current range. This view is supported by lexicostatistical studies.” ref 

“Fowler’s reconstruction of Proto-Numic ethnobiology also points to the region of the southern Sierra Nevada as the homeland of Proto-Numic approximately two millennia ago. A mitochondrial DNA study from 2001 supports this linguistic hypothesis. The anthropologist Peter N. Jones thinks this evidence to be of a circumstantial nature, but this is a distinctly minority opinion among specialists in Numic. David Shaul has proposed that the Southern Numic languages spread eastward long before the Central and Western Numic languages expanded into the Great Basin.” ref

“Shoshoni is a Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family, spoken in the Western United States.” ref

“The Shoshone call their creator god “Tam Apo” which translates as “Our Father.” Some tribes represent the Supreme Being as an animal, most often a wolf, having human thought and speech.” ref

3. Algonquian languages/From Algic languages, “Algonquian languages include: Arapahoan, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi, Eastern Algonquian, Menominee, Meskwaki-Sauk-Kickapoo, Miami-Illinois, Ojibwe–Potawatomi, and Shawnee. The Algonquian languages are a family of Indigenous languages of the Americas, and most of the languages in the Algic language family are included in the group. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Indigenous Ojibwe language (Chippewa), which is a senior member of the Algonquian language family. Speakers of Algonquian languages stretch from the east coast of North America to the Rocky Mountains. The proto-language from which all of the languages of the family descend, Proto-Algonquian, was spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago. The essence of Proto-Algonquian originated with people to the west who then moved east. There is no scholarly consensus about where this language was spoken.” ref

“Amerindian male descendants whose yDNA places them in haplogroup Q-Y4294 and downstream subclades. Algonquian and Haudenosaunee populations found in North America from the Great Lakes east to the Atlantic coast, and southward from the Maritime Provinces and the Gulf of Maine, to the Carolina’s. The study has expanded in geography and time with definition of Q-Y4294 to include southeastern North America. Q-Y4294 formed approximately 11,800 years ago in the Paleo Period. It is estimated that the population in New England 10,000 years ago was no more than 25,000. The Archaic is the second oldest Amerindian life-way across the North American continent. They were wandering hunter-gatherers. Their settlements were movable camps. Their possessions were few and portable. Ice-age flora and fauna were gone. These ancestors were surrounded by plants and animals that exist today. Northeastern regional variant cultures first emerged across the Great Lakes and along the Northeast coast about 8,000 years ago in the early Archaic Period.” ref

“There is strong evidence of cultural continuity over much of the Northeast. Human settlement was concentrated on rivers and coasts. Ancient populations in the Northeast were stable with the lands carrying capacity. 500 Threshold
Modeling simulations show that human breeding populations below 500 are too unstable to survive. This means that Archaic bands with as few as a dozen people had to collectively have an aggregate collection of nearby bands as they filled the landscape. Sizes of local populations were determined by the carrying capacity of the environment. It is foolish to assign cultural ties to yDNA haplogroup clades with so few data or perhaps ever. We can say that to date all study participants belonging to the subclade of Q-Y4294 currently defined as Q-Y4300 descend from Algonquian speakers located on the Atlantic coast at the time of European contact. The most recent common ancestor of Q-Y4300 is currently calculated to approximately 4,500 years ago. Eastern North America became an independent center of plant domestication in a span either side of this date. The Eastern Woodland Period began at about 4,000 years ago.” ref

“For context, this is about the time the Biblical era began. Proto-Algonquian language began about 3,000 years ago. STRs found at DYS464 are diagnostic for potential members Q-Y4300. Y4300 appears at this time to represent a northerly group that diverged from the original population. Remnants of which remained in the SE. Members of that population (Haudenoaunee) at a much later time migrated north. Iroquois Intrusion The origin of Northern Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) is controversial though linguists tell us that their closest relations are Cherokee of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Proto-Iroquois began migrating north by 650 CE. It is believed the Iroquois population rose from a population of perhaps 100 during the Medieval Maximum. The Medieval maximum was a long term warm spell lasting 300 years, from c. 950 to c. 1250 CE. The Iroquois expanded and spread northward to central Pennsylvania, into New York west of the Hudson River, and eventually the full length of the St. Lawrence River Valley and around the eastern Great Lakes. This northerly expansion formed wedge dividing Algonquians into eastern and western populations.” ref

“The Algic languages (also Algonquian–Wiyot–Yurok or Algonquian–Ritwan) are an indigenous language family of North America. Most Algic languages belong to the Algonquian subfamily, dispersed over a broad area from the Rocky Mountains to Atlantic Canada. The other Algic languages are the Yurok and Wiyot of northwestern California, which, despite their geographic proximity, are not closely related. All these languages descend from Proto-Algic, a second-order proto-language estimated to have been spoken about 7,000 years ago and reconstructed using the reconstructed Proto-Algonquian language and the Wiyot and Yurok languages.” ref

4. Southern Athabascan/Dené–Yeniseian, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak, Athabaska, Southern Athabascan. Eyak is not an Athabaskan language, but a coordinate sub-branch to Athabaskan as a whole in the Athabaskan-Eyak branch of the Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit language family.” ref, ref 

“Southern Athabaskan (also Apachean) is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States (including Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas. The languages are spoken in the northern Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and to a much lesser degree in Durango and Nuevo León. Those languages are spoken by various groups of Apache and Navajo peoples. Elsewhere, Athabaskan is spoken by many indigenous groups of peoples in Alaska, Canada, Oregon and northern California. The seven Southern Athabaskan languages can be divided into two groups according to the classification of Harry Hoijer: (I) Plains and (II) Southwestern. Plains Apache is the only member of the Plains Apache group. The Southwestern group can be further divided into two subgroups (A) Western and (B) Eastern. The Western subgroup consists of Western Apache, Navajo, Mescalero, and Chiricahua. The Eastern subgroup consists of Jicarilla and Lipan.” ref

5. Iroquoian languages/”possibly related to Caddoan languages, the Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, almost all surviving Iroquoian languages are severely or critically endangered, with some languages having only a few elderly speakers remaining. The two languages with the most speakers, Mohawk (Kenien’kéha) in New York and Canada, and Cherokee in Oklahoma and North Carolina, are spoken by less than 10% of the populations of their nations.” ref

“The Iroquois, also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the endonym Haudenosaunee (/ˌhoʊdɪnoʊˈʃoʊni/ HOH-din-oh-SHOH-nee; lit. ‘people who are building the longhouse‘) are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of Native Americans and First Nations peoples in northeast North America. They were known by the French during the colonial years as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, while the English simply called them the “Five Nations”. The peoples of the Iroquois included (from east to west) the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, the Iroquoian-speaking Tuscarora people from the southeast were accepted into the confederacy, from which point it was known as the “Six Nations.” ref

“The Confederacy likely came about between the years 1450 CE and 1660 CE as a result of the Great Law of Peace, said to have been composed by the Deganawidah the Great Peacemaker, Hiawatha, and Jigonsaseh the Mother of Nations. For nearly 200 years, the Six Nations/Haudenosaunee Confederacy were a powerful factor in North American colonial policy, with some scholars arguing for the concept of the Middle Ground, in that European powers were used by the Iroquois just as much as Europeans used them. At its peak around 1700, Iroquois power extended from what is today New York State, north into present-day Ontario and Quebec along the lower Great Lakes–upper St. Lawrence, and south on both sides of the Allegheny mountains into present-day Virginia and Kentucky and into the Ohio Valley. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians, Wendat (Huron), Erie, and Susquehannock, all independent peoples known to the European colonists, also spoke Iroquoian languages. They are considered Iroquoian in a larger cultural sense, all being descended from the Proto-Iroquoian people and language. Historically, however, they were competitors and enemies of the Iroquois Confederacy nations.” ref

“The Caddoan languages are a family of languages native to the Great Plains spoken by tribal groups of the central United States, from present-day North Dakota south to Oklahoma. Caddo, Northern Caddoan, Wichita , Pawnee–Kitsai, Kitsai, Pawnee–Arikara, Pawnee, and Arikara. Proto-Caddoan, it appeared to have divided into two branches, Northern and Southern, more than 3000 years ago (The division of the language implies also a geographic and/or political separation). South Caddoan, or Caddo proper, evolved in north-eastern Texas and adjacent Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Other than Caddo, no daughter languages are known, but some unrecorded ones likely existed in the 16th and the 17th centuries. Northern Caddoan evolved into several different languages. The language that became Wichita, with several different dialects, branched off about 2000 years ago. Kitsai separated from the Northern Caddoan stem about 1200 years ago, and Pawnee and Arikara separated 300 to 500 years ago.” ref

“Proto-Iroquoian is the theoretical proto-language of the Iroquoian languages. Lounsbury (1961) estimated from glottochronology a time depth of 3,500 to 3,800 years for the split of North and South Iroquoian. These tribes included the Huron and Neutral in modern-day Ontario, first encountered by French explorers and traders; the Five Nations of the Iroquois League in Upstate New York and Pennsylvania, and the Erie Nation and Susquehannock peoples in Pennsylvania. Southern speakers of Iroquoian languages ranged from the Cherokee in the Great Smoky Mountains, to the Tuscarora and Nottoway in the interior near the modern Virginia/North Carolina border. The Iroquoian languages are usually divided into two main groups: Southern Iroquoian (Cherokee) and Northern Iroquoian (all others) based on the great differences in vocabulary and modern phonology.” ref

“Attempts to link the Iroquoian, Siouan, and Caddoan languages in a Macro-Siouan family are suggestive but remain unproven (Mithun 1999:305). The Macro-Siouan languages are a proposed language family that includes the Siouan, Iroquoian, and Caddoan families. Most linguists remain unconvinced that these languages share a genetic relationship, and the existence of a Macro-Siouan language family remains a subject of debate.” ref, ref

6. Lakota language/Siouan language, Lakota (Lakȟótiyapi [laˈkˣɔtɪjapɪ]), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton, or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. Lakota is mutually intelligible with the two dialects of the Dakota language, especially Western Dakota, and is one of the three major varieties of the Sioux language. Siouan (/ˈsuːən/ SOO-ən) or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio, and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east.” ref, ref

“The Lakota people‘s creation stories say that language originated from the creation of the tribe. Other creation stories say the language was invented by Iktomi. In Lakota mythology, Iktómi is a spider–trickster spirit, and a culture hero for the Lakota people. Alternate names for Iktómi include Ikto, Ictinike, Inktomi, Unktome, and Unktomi. These names are due to the differences in languages between different indigenous nations, as this spider deity was known throughout many of North America’s tribes. His appearance is that of a spider, but he can take any shape, including that of a human. When he is a human, he is said to wear red, yellow, and white paint, with black rings around his eyes. The Spider, although most tales involve the trickster figure and center on morality lessons for the young, Iktómi was also the bringer of Lakota culture.” ref, ref

“According to author James Walker, Iktómi has his roots in Ksa, the god of wisdom: “Because Ksa had used his wisdom to cause a goddess to hide her face in shame and a god to bow his head in grief, Scan, the god of motion condemned him that he should sit at the feasts of gods no more and should sit on the world without a friend, and his wisdom should be only cunning that would entrap him in his own schemes. He named him Iktómi. So Iktómi is the imp of mischief whose delight is to make others ridiculous” .The Oglala of south Dakota present Iktómi as the second manifestation, or degeneration, of Ksa, which hatched from the Cosmic Egg being laid by Wak-Inyan, the primordial thunderstorm. Ksa invented language, stories, names and games. In another version Iya is the son of Unk (defined as passion), who detested Ksa. Iya and Unk had an incestious relationship out of which Gnaski, the demon, was the result. Because of this, and for not taking the advice of Ksa, Unk was expelled from the circle of divine entities.” ref

“Unk wanted to outwit Ksa with the help of the cunning of Gnaski. Gnaski succeeds in this, mainly because he has no fear of Skan (the Judge, Activity), by sowing confusion. Gnaski enabled this by mimicking Ksa to perfection; therefore, Gnaski is called Ksapela (little wisdom). The first people were not able to distinguish between the two. Through his folly Gnaski entangles Ksa completely, and through the activity of Skan Ksa consequently becomes a spider, the meaning of the name Iktómi. Iktómi still had the feature of making games. It seems that Iktómi, in stories attributed to him, in his very essence is representing the confusion between wisdom and folly. He began playing malicious tricks because people would jeer at his strange or funny looks. Most of his schemes end with him falling into ruin when his intricate plans backfire.” ref

“Because it is Iktómi, a respected (or perhaps feared) deity playing the part of the idiot or fool, and the story is told as entertainment, the listener is allowed to reflect on misdeeds without feeling like they are being confronted. In other tales, Iktómi is depicted with dignity and seriousness, such as in the popularized myth of the dreamcatcher. Iktómi is a shapeshifter, and can use strings to control humans like puppets. He has also the power to make potions that change gods, gain control over people and trick gods and mortals. Mica or Coyote is his great accomplice in all of this, though there are times when he behaves seriously and comes to the aid of the Lakota people, there are instances where he gives the people ways to protect themselves from evil, live a better life with technology, or warn them of danger.” ref

“Iktomi (also known as Unktomi) is a trickster figure of the lore of the Lakota Sioux nation similar to tricksters of other nations, such as Wihio of the Cheyenne, Nanabozho (Manabozho) of the Ojibwe, Coyote of the Navajo, or Glooscap of the Algonquin. As a trickster, he may cause harm or good but always brings transformation. Iktomi sometimes appears as a spider, sometimes as a man (a Sioux hunter, warrior, or sage), and is variously known as Ictinike, Ikto, Unktome, and most famously Unktomi by the different bands of the Sioux. Iktomi tales were, and still are, among the most popular Sioux legends as they are always entertaining while also providing an important cultural, religious, or common-sense moral. In this, they share ground with trickster tales of any culture, ancient or modern, around the world as trickster figures in general often drive the narrative of some of the most engaging texts, as with Loki in Norse mythology, Hermes in Greek mythology, or Reynard the Fox in European medieval folklore, among many others.” ref

7. Pawnee language/Caddoan languages, The Pawnee language is a Caddoan language traditionally spoken by Pawnee Native Americans, currently inhabiting north-central Oklahoma. Historically, the Pawnee lived along the Platte River in what is now Nebraska. The Pawnee language: Caddoan, Northern, Pawnee–Kitsai, Pawnee–Arikara, Pawnee.” ref

Sky Father/Sky Chief Mythology: Great Spirit, Great Mystery, and Great Father

Haa Shageinyaa – Tlingit – Great Spirit

Wakan Tanka – Lakota – Great Spirit

Manitou – Algonquian – Great Spirit

Orenda – Iroquoian – Great Spirit

Tirawa Atius /Atius Tirawa – Pawnee – Great Spirit

Tam Apo – Shoshoni – Great Spirit (Numic division of the Uto-Aztecan language family)

Yahwera – Kahniina – Great Spirit? (Numic division of the Uto-Aztecan language family)

Gichi-manidoo/ Gichi-ojichaag – Apache

Naayéé /Tsohanoai – Navajo

“Most indigenous cultures of the Americas possess a notion of a Great Spirit or Wakan Tanka to the Lakota and Sioux for example. Wakan Tanka, or by other names – Maheu, Orenda, Utakke, or the Sky-Chief, appears in many Native American stories, legends, and creation myths; e.g., the Great Spirit existed in great emptiness until loneliness drove him to creation in one myth. Native American religions also tend to see the spiritual in everyday life and have an intimate connection with the wildlife and animals that they encounter and harvest.” ref

Native American Legends: Caddi Ayo (Sky Chief Above)

“Caddi Ayo means “Sky Chief” or “Chief Above” in the Caddo language, and is the Caddo name for the Creator (God.) Sometimes, the Plains Indian term “Great Spirit” is also used. Caddi Ayo is a divine spirit and is not generally personified in Caddo folklore.” ref

“Name: Caddi Ayo, Tribal affiliation: Caddo, Alternate spellings: Ayo-Caddi-Aymay, Ayamat Caddi, Ayanat Caddi, Ah-ah Ha’-yo, Pronunciation: kah-dee ah-yoh. Also known as: Chief Above, Great Father Above, Sky Chief, Great Spirit. Type: High gods, creator gods, spirits of the sky,  Related figures in other tribes: Nishanu (Arikara), Tirawa (Pawnee), Gitchie Manitou (Chippewa).” ref

“The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who historically inhabited much of what is now northeast Texas, west Louisiana, southwestern Arkansas, and southeastern Oklahoma. Prior to European contact, they were the Caddoan Mississippian culture, who constructed huge earthwork mounds at several sites in this territory, flourishing from about 800 to 1400 CE.” ref

“The Caddo are thought to be an extension of Woodland period peoples, the Fourche Maline and Mossy Grove cultures, whose members were living in the area of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas areas between 200 BCE and 800 CE. The Wichita and Pawnee are also related to the Caddo, since both tribes historically spoke Caddoan languages. By 800 CE, this society had begun to coalesce into the Caddoan Mississippian culture. Some villages began to gain prominence as ritual centers. Leaders directed the construction of major earthworks known as platform mounds, which served as temple mounds and platforms for residences of the elite. The flat-topped mounds were arranged around leveled, large, open plazas, which were usually kept swept clean and were often used for ceremonial occasions. As complex religious and social ideas developed, some people and family lineages gained prominence over others.” ref

“By 1000 CE, a society that is defined by archaeologists as “Caddoan” had emerged. By 1200, the many villages, hamlets, and farmsteads established throughout the Caddo world had developed extensive maize agriculture, producing a surplus that allowed for greater density of settlement. In these villages, artisans and craftsmen developed specialties. The artistic skills and earthwork mound-building of the Caddoan Mississippians flourished during the 12th and 13th centuries. The Spiro Mounds, near the Arkansas River in present-day southeastern Oklahoma, were some of the most elaborate mounds in the United States. They were made by Mississippian ancestors of the historic Caddo and Wichita tribes, in what is considered the westernmost area of the mound-building Mississippian culture. The Caddo were farmers and enjoyed good growing conditions most of the time. The Piney Woods, the geographic area where they lived, was affected by the Great Drought from 1276 to 1299 CE, which covered an area extending to present-day California and disrupted many Native American cultures.” ref

“Archeological evidence has confirmed that the cultural continuity is unbroken from prehistory to the present among these peoples. The Caddoan Mississippian people were the direct ancestors of the historic Caddo people and related Caddo-language speakers, such as the Pawnee and Wichita, who encountered the first Europeans, as well as of the modern Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. The Caddo creation story, as told in their oral history, says the tribe emerged from a cave, called Chahkanina or “the place of crying,” located at the confluence of the Red River of the South and Mississippi River (in northern present-day Louisiana). Their leader, named Moon, instructed the people not to look back. An old Caddo man carried a drum, a pipe, and fire, all of which have continued to be important religious items to the people. His wife carried corn and pumpkin seeds. As people and accompanying animals emerged, the wolf looked back. The exit from the underground was closed to the remaining people and animals.” ref

“The Caddo peoples moved west along the Red River, which they called Bah’hatteno in Caddo. A Caddo woman, Zacado, instructed the tribe in hunting, fishing, building dwellings, and making clothing. Caddo religion focuses on Kadhi háyuh, translating to “Leader Above” or “Leader in the Sky.” In early times, the people were led by priests, including a head priest, the xinesi, who could commune with spirits residing near Caddo temples. A cycle of ceremonies developed around important periods of seasonal corn cultivation. Tobacco was also cultivated, and was and is used ceremonially. Early priests drank a purifying sacrament drink made of wild olive leaves. Centuries before extensive European contact, some of the Caddo territory was invaded by migrating Dhegihan Siouan–speaking peoples: the Osage, Ponca, Omaha, Quapaw, and Kaw. They moved west beginning about 1200 CE after years of warfare with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) nations in the Ohio River area of present-day Kentucky. The powerful Iroquois took control of hunting grounds in the area.” ref

“The Osage, in particular, fought the Caddo, pushed them out of some former territory, and became dominant in the region of present-day Missouri, Arkansas, and eastern Kansas. These tribes had become settled in their new territory west of the Mississippi prior to mid-18th-century European contact. Most of the Caddo historically lived in the Piney Woods ecoregion of the United States, divided among the state regions of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. This region extends up to the foothills of the Ozarks. The Piney Woods are a dense forest of deciduous and pinophyta flora covering rolling hills, steep river valleys, and intermittent wetlands called “bayous“. Caddo people primarily settled near the Caddo River.” ref

“When they first encountered Europeans and Africans, the Caddo tribes organized themselves in three confederacies: the Natchitoches, Hasinai, and Kadohadacho. They were loosely affiliated with other neighboring tribes, including the Yowani Choctaw. The Natchitoches lived in now northern Louisiana, the Haisinai lived in East Texas, and the Kadohadacho lived near the border of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The Caddo people had a diet based on cultivated crops, particularly maize (corn), but also sunflower, pumpkins, and squash. These foods held cultural significance, as did wild turkeys. They hunted and gathered wild plants, as well. The Caddo Native Americans had a culture that consisted of the hunting and gathering dynamic. The men hunted year-round, while the young and healthy women were responsible for the gathering of fruits, seeds, and vegetables for the tribe. Elderly women planted and cultivated the seeds for the season’s crop. Gathered items included corn, sunflowers, beans, melons, tobacco, and squash during the warm seasons. Acorns and roots were gathered and processed to provide food other than meat in the cold seasons when crops did not grow.” ref

“The men used handcrafted bows and arrows to hunt animals such as wild turkey, quail, rabbits, bears, and bison during winter months. Most tools and items were made by women. They made wooden mortars, as well as pots and other utensils out of clay. These wood and clay tools were carved and molded to help with daily jobs like cooking meals for the tribe. These tools were viewed with such reverence that men and women were buried with the items that they had made. The Caddo also decorated their bodies. Men favored body modifications and ornamentation, such as the painting of skin, jewelry, ear piercing, and hair decorations, like braids, adorned with bird feathers or animal fur. While the women of the tribe wore some jewelry and styled their hair similarly to men, most used the art of tattooing to decorate their bodies. Such tattoos covered most of the body, including the face.” ref

Native American Sky Gods and Spirits

The Above People (Blackfoot)
Morning Star (many tribes)
Old-Man-Sky (Carib)
Sky Chief (Caddo)
Sky-Holder (Iroquois)
Sky Woman (Iroquois)
The Star-Boy (Blackfoot)
The Thunder-Bird (Plains and Western tribes)
Thunderer (Sioux)
Thunders (Iroquois)
Utakké (Carrier)

Sky Chief of the Pawnee tribe

“Among the Pawnee chiefs at this time was Sky Chief. Sky Chief had taken over for his father, one of the great Pawnee Chiefs, who by this time was old and infirm, and was no longer able to lead the annual buffalo hunt to Southwestern Nebraska. Sky Chief had begun to make a name for himself among the Pawnee. He was a leading advocate of the “Accommodation” treaty with the U.S. Army. Under this treaty, the Pawnee supplied scouts for the Army, and guards for the transcontinental railroad, which at the time was pushing west across the prairie. In return, and most importantly for the Pawnee, the Army provided protection to the Pawnee Nation against their Indian enemies. The summer buffalo hunt was the high point in the year for the Pawnee. The 1873 hunt was a massive affair, and was to prove to be the last of the great buffalo hunts. Sky Chief, Sun Chief, and Fighting Bear were the leaders of a great Pawnee expedition, perhaps numbering some 250 warriors plus 100 women and 50 children.” ref

“Llao is the god of the underworld in the mythology of the Klamath Native American tribe. Llao fought a great battle with the sky god, Skell, which caused the eruption of Mount Mazama, creating Crater Lake. Llao Rock is named for Llao. The Klamath tells many stories of the powerful spirits Llao and Skell. Llao was the spirit of the underworld who lived beneath Mount Mazama. Skell was the spirit of the sky “above-world”. In the beginning, the stories say that Llao was able to pass through a hole and climb to the top of Mount Mazama, where he could almost touch the stars where Skell lived. The followers of the spirits could reportedly take the form of animals such as deer, fox, and dove, and they would play together.” ref

“The story goes on to explain the origins of Crater Lake, known as giiwas in the Klamath language. The Klamath stories say that quarrels began, and war broke out between Llao and Skell. One time Llao visited atop he saw Loha, the daughter of the Klamath Indian Chief, and fell in love with her. He became extremely angry when she rejected his hideous, underworld nature, and cursed the Klamath with fire that rained down on them. The Klamath turned to Skell for help. In response to the Klamath people’s pleadings, Skell descended from the sky to the top of Mount Shasta. A furious battle ensued, Skell from Mount Shasta and Llao from Mount Mazama. The ferociousness of the fight led two medicine men to jump into the pit of the underworld as a sacrifice to appease the spirits. Inspired by their sacrifice, Skell fought harder and defeated Llao, driving him deep into the underworld. The story goes on to explain that Skell then covered the hole to the underworld with the top of Mount Mazama to imprison Llao forever. As a final act, Skell covered the remains of the dark pit with water to restore peace and tranquility to the land, which became Crater Lake.” ref

“Klamath myths include many stories of battle, including one where Llao kills Skell. In this story, Llao is able to defeat Skell in a battle to the death. However, when Llao’s followers take Skell’s heart up a mountain to celebrate, Skell’s followers are able to steal back the heart and use it to restore Skell back to life. During the story of the “Last Great Battle”, Llao is killed by Skell. Skell orders that Llao’s body is to be cut up and thrown to the creatures of the lake. To trick the lake creatures loyal to Llao, Skell’s followers claim the body parts are Skell’s, so the creatures gobble them down. When Llao’s head is thrown into the lake, the creatures recognize it and refuse to eat it. The story explains that Llao’s head is now Wizard Island.” ref

“he spirits of the Earth and sky often came and talked with the people. Llao was the spirit of the Below-World who lived beneath Lao-Yaina (today known as Mount Mazama). Skell was the spirit of the Above-World. Llao often came up and stood on top of Lao-Yaina, and his head would touch the stars near the home of Skell. There was no lake then, just a hole through which Llao passed to see the outside world. One day, Llao saw Loha, daughter of the Klamath Indian chief, and fell in love with her beauty. She rejected him because he was ugly and was from the Below-World. He got angry and swore that he would take revenge on her people. He tried to destroy the people with the curse of fire. The Klamath Indian chief sought help from Skell.” ref

“Skell descended from the sky to the top of Mount Shasta. Skell and Llao were thundering and trembling the Earth, hurling red hot rocks back and forth to each other (from Mount Shasta to Mount Mazama), causing great landslides. A terrible darkness spread over the area for days. All spirits of Earth and sky took part in this battle, creating intense fear among the people. Attempting to calm the ferocious volcano gods and to make up for the sins of the tribe, two medicine men offered to sacrifice themselves and jumped into the pit of Below-World. Impressed by their heroic sacrifice, Skell fought even harder. He finally defeated Llao, driving Llao deep down into the Below-World. He collapsed the top of Mount Mazama to imprison Llao forever beneath the world. Skell wanted peace and tranquility to cover up this dark pit, so he filled it with the beautiful blue water.” ref

“Klamath people: The Klamath people are a Native American tribe of the Plateau culture area in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Today Klamath people are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes: Klamath Tribes (Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin (Yahuskin) Band of Northern Paiute Indians), Oregon. Quartz Valley Indian Community (Klamath, Karuk (Karok), and Shasta (Chasta) people), California. The Klamath people lived in the area around the Upper Klamath Lake (E-ukshi – “Lake”) and the Klamath, Williamson (Kóke – “River”), Wood River (E-ukalksini Kóke), and Sprague (Plaikni Kóke – “River Uphill”) rivers. They subsisted primarily on fish and gathered roots and seeds. While there was knowledge of their immediate neighbors, apparently the Klamath were unaware of the existence of the Pacific Ocean. Gatschet has described this position as leaving the Klamath living in a “protracted isolation” from outside cultures.” ref

“North of their tribal territory lived the Molala (Kuikni maklaks), in the northeast and east in the desert-like plains were various Northern Paiute bands (Shá’ttumi, collective term for Northern Paiute, Bannock and Northern Shoshone) – among them the Goyatöka Band (“Crayfish Eaters”), direct south their Modoc kin (Mo’dokni maklaks – “Southern People, i.e. Tule Lake People”) with whom they shared the Modoc Plateau, in the southwest were living Shasta peoples (S[h]asti maklaks) and the Klamath River further downstream the Karuk and Yurok (both: Skatchpalikni – “People along the Scott River“), in the west and northwest were the Latgawa (“Upland Takelma”) (according to Spier: Walumskni – “Enemy”) and Takelma/Dagelma (“Lowland/River Takelma”) (more likely both were called: Wálamsknitumi, Wálamskni maklaks – “Rogue River People”).” ref

“Beyond the Cascade Range (Yámakisham Yaina – “mountains of the Northerners”) in the Rogue River Valley (Wálamsh) lived the “Rogue “River” Athabascan (Wálamsknitumi, Wálamskni maklaks – “Rogue River People”) and further south along the Pit River (Moatuashamkshini/Móatni Kóke – “River of the Southern Dwellers”) lived the Achomawi and Atsugewi (both called: Móatuash maklaks – “Southern Dweller,” or “Southern People”). The Klamath were known to raid neighboring tribes, such as the Achomawi on the Pit River, and occasionally to take prisoners as slaves. They traded with the Wasco-Wishram at The Dalles. However, scholars such as Alfred L. Kroeber and Leslie Spier consider these slaving raids by the Klamath to begin only with the acquisition of the horse. These natives made southern Oregon their home for long enough to witness the eruption of Mount Mazama. It was a legendary volcanic mountain who is the creator of Crater Lake (giˑw), now considered to be a beautiful natural formation.” ref

“Native Americans have inhabited the area around Mazama and Crater Lake for at least 10,000 years, and the volcano plays an important role in local folklore. Mount Mazama is in Klamath County, within the U.S. state of Oregon, 60 miles (97 km) north of the border with California. It lies in the southern portion of the Cascade Range. Crater Lake sits partly inside the volcano’s caldera, with a depth of 1,943 feet (592 m); it is the deepest body of freshwater in the United States and the second deepest in North America after Great Slave Lake in Canada. Before its caldera-forming eruption, Mazama stood at an elevation between 10,800 and 12,100 feet (3,300 and 3,700 m), placing it about 1 mile (1.6 km) above the lake; this would have made it Oregon’s highest peak but currently lists its elevation at 8,157 feet (2,486 m). It has a round center and extensions on the sides, resembling a bird of prey.” ref

“One of the last of many eruptions was Mazama’s climactic eruption, which has been dated to about 6,845 ± 50 years ago via radiocarbon dating, or about 7,700 years ago via dendrochronology. Other scientists have determined ages of 6,730 ± 40 years ago or roughly 7,470–7,620 calendar years ago, as well as 7,627 ± 150 calendar years ago. The fallout from the eruption continued for roughly three years, though the major eruption only occurred for a few days. The eruption is thought to have occurred during autumn, as inferred from pollen data. Mazama, depositing 250 feet (76 m) of material, which have still not been fully eroded after almost 8,000 years. To the southeast, pyroclastic flows coursed into Sand Creek and extended more than 10 miles (16 km) in that direction, some reaching Klamath Marsh, the Williamson River, and the Klamath Lakes.” ref

“The Klamath Native Americans of the area believed that Mount Mazama was inhabited by Llao, their “Chief of the Below World.” After the mountain destroyed itself the Klamaths recounted the events as a great battle between Llao and his rival Skell, their sky god, or “Chief of the Above World.” The narrative has several slightly different iterations. A common variant of the legend recounts that Llao saw a beautiful Klamath woman, the daughter of a chief, and became angry when she refused his offer of immortality if she would be his consort. Furious, Llao emerged from Mazama and threw fire upon the people beneath the mountain, and Skell stood on Mount Shasta, trying to defend the people against Llao’s fury. As the earth shook and volcanic rock fell from the sky, two holy men sacrificed themselves to Mount Mazama’s crater, and Skell was able to force Llao back into the volcano, which then collapsed on top of him; other accounts tell that Skell smashed the peak on top of Llao. Torrential rain followed, filling in the hole left by Mazama’s collapse to form Crater Lake.” ref

“Native American people have lived in the area near Mazama for at least 10,000 years. At least part of the surrounding vicinity was occupied by indigenous populations when Mazama resumed activity about 8,000 years ago, following about 20,000 years of dormancy. Most evidence suggests that Mazama served as a campsite, but not a permanent place of habitation. Sagebrush sandals have been discovered to the east of the mountain. These populations faced an increasingly dry climate and the hazards associated with volcanic activity. In civilizations south of Mazama, stories about the volcano’s eruption have been transmitted for many generations. Native populations did not tell settlers about the area because it held sacred importance among tribes throughout Oregon and northern California. Shamans did not allow local Native Americans to look towards Crater Lake, and the Klamath people believed that just looking at Mazama would cause death. Some Native Americans still refuse to look at the water.” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

ref, ref, ref, ref

Medicine men dance around a cooking pot giving thanks to the Great Spirit, 1841.

Corn Dance

“Corn Dance, a North American Indian ceremonial dance expressing supplication or thanksgiving for the maize crop and held at such stages as the planting, ripening, or harvesting of the grain, also called the green corn dance.” ref

“The Green Corn Ceremony (Busk) is an annual ceremony practiced among various Native American peoples associated with the beginning of the yearly corn harvest. Busk is a term given to the ceremony by white traders, the word being a corruption of the Creek word puskita (pusketv) for “a fast.” These ceremonies have been documented ethnographically throughout the North American Eastern Woodlands and Southeastern tribes. Historically, it involved a first fruits rite in which the community would sacrifice the first of the green corn to ensure the rest of the crop would be successful. These Green Corn festivals were practiced widely throughout southern North America by many tribes evidenced in the Mississippian people and throughout the Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere. Green Corn festivals are still held today by many different Southeastern Woodland tribes. The Green Corn Ceremony typically occurs in late June or July, determined locally by the developing of the corn crops. The ceremony is marked with dancing, feasting, fasting, and religious observations.” ref

“Puskita, commonly referred to as the “Green Corn Ceremony” or “Busk,” is the central and most festive holiday of the traditional Muscogee people. It represents not only the renewal of the annual cycle, but of the spirit and traditions of the Muscogee. This is representative of the return of summer, the ripening of the new corn, and the common Native American traditions of environmental and agricultural renewal. Historically in the Seminole tribe, 12-year-old boys are declared men at the Green Corn Ceremony, and given new names by the chief as a mark of their maturity. Several tribes still participate in these ceremonies each year, but tribes who have historic tradition within the ceremony include the Yuchi, Iroquois, Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Natchez, Chickasaw, Shawnee, Miccosukee, Alabama, Hitchiti, Coushatta, Taskigi and Seminole tribes. Each of those tribes may have its own variations of celebration, dances, and traditions but performs a new year’s ceremony, involving fasting and several other comparisons each year.” ref

“The Sun Dance is a ceremony practiced by some Native Americans in the United States and Indigenous peoples in Canada, primarily those of the Plains cultures, as well as a new movement within Native American religions, 1890 the Shoshone people in origin.” ref 

Kitanitowit: High god, Creator

“Tribal affiliation: Lenape, Wampanoag, Narragansett. The Lenape name Ketanëtuwit literally means “Great Spirit.” Related figures in other tribes: Niwaskw (Abenaki), Gitchy Manitou (Ojibway), Gisoolg (Micmac).” ref

“Nishanu: Creator, high god is the Arikara name for the Great Spirit or God. Literally, “Neshanu Natchitak” means “the Chief Above.” He is usually just called Nishanu (“Chief” or “Lord”), which is still used as the Arikara word for God today. Related figures in other tribes: Tirawa Atius (Pawnee), First Creator (Mandan), Earthmaker (Ho-chunk).” ref 

Gici Niwaskw: High god, Creator, “Great Spirit”

“Gici Niwaskw is the great creator god of the southern Wabanaki tribes. Related figures in other tribes: Kisulkw (Mi’kmaq), Gitchie Manitou (Ojibway), Kishelemukong (Lenape).” ref

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Right pic: Kawaisu Yahwera deity, Back Canyon, Kern County, California. 

Left pic: Emblematic pattern, Ridgecrest, California.

KING OF BEASTS: Master of Animals “Ritual” Motif, around 6,000 years old or older…

The Patterned Body Anthromorphs

 “While studying thousands of rock art images in what is now the China Lake Air Force Base, Dr. Alan Garfinkle and his associates noted over 700 strange figures they called Patterned Body Anthromorphs, images notable for a long torso marked with various patterns, a head devoid of normal facial features, and truncated or missing legs, often with three toes. Sometimes a twisted snake accompanied the figure. In many cases, there was no gender evident, but in others, the figure had male, female, or both male and female characteristics. Almost all carried a staff or atlatl (dart thrower). Some carried a bag of seeds, which trailed out in lines behind the figure.” ref

“The Kawaiisu and other American Indian groups that lived in the area where the paintings appeared shared similar beliefs, which Dr. Garfinkel felt could provide a frame of reference for the rock art figures. Caves were seen as important places, imbued with sacred power. A spirit named Yahwera lived in a cave where the spirits of all the animals resided, even animals that had been killed.” ref

“In the spring, Yahwera opened the portal and allowed the regenerated animals to fill the land. Yahwera also provided healing medicines (“magic songs”) and successful hunts. Occasionally, a human, through accidental discovery or shamanistic transformation, could enter the world of Yahwera through a portal in a rock surface or a cave. There, below ground, the visitor would see all the animals, including those waiting to be reborn. Guarded by a large snake, the androgynous Yahwera was the keeper of the animals, wisdom, and power.” ref

“Images of Yahwera were inscribed on the sites of the portals. A known portal to the home of Yahwera was located near a spring and marked with an image of the Animal Master: a humanoid figure with red circles for the face, a feathered headdress and clawed feet. Next to the figure was a snake almost as tall as the main figure. The two drawings included (left) are representations of the patterned body anthromorphs in the Coso rock art collection (on the left) and the known representation of Yahwera, the guardian of the animal spirits (on the right). The Yokuts, another tribe in the area, refer to rock art sites as “shaman’s caches,” vaults of magic power. When a shaman spoke to the rock, the portal opened, and the Spirit Master gave the shaman magic songs and wisdom.” ref

The shaman as intermediary

“The shaman talks to the rock, but the Spirit Master opens it. In this sense, the shaman is the intermediary. Because he can break the confines of this world, he is able to intercede for the people, asking the Spirit Master to release the game the people need to live. (I’m referring to the shaman as male though San people indicate that any male or female could accept the dangerous role of dream healer if desired.) The shaman delivers the request, not only for game but also for rain, wisdom, or cures for sickness. In this way, the shaman is acting in the same role as a modern priest, delivering the faithful’s requests to their Spirit Master.” ref

“One Kawaiisu narrative tells of a man who took jimsonweed (or raw tobacco in other versions) and found Yahwera’s cave. Inside he saw many animals, including deer and bear, who spoke the same language as the people. Yahwera explained that the animals weren’t really dead; they were only waiting to be reborn. At the end of the experience, the man was cured of his illness and left the cave through water at the end of a tunnel. When he came out, he found himself far from his starting point. He’d been gone so long, his people thought he had died.” ref

“In the Coso rock art, the strange figures on the rock surface are probably not shamans in a transformative state. According to tribal beliefs recorded in the 19^th and 20^th century, the figures represented the Spirit Master, the keeper of the animals, the source of magical power. The shaman was the one who is sensitive enough to find the portal to the Spirit Master’s realm and powerful enough to traverse the dangerous realms beyond this one. Rock art images like the one included here from Utah seem to indicate a hierarchy of spirits because one figure is so much larger and dominates the image.  While all things living and dead may share in spirit energy, some are apparently far more powerful than others.” ref

Patterned Body Anthropomorphs of the Cosos: Revisiting the Shamans and Animal Masters of Deep Time

“Abstract: In this paper we examine deep time and space parallels in rock art patterns pertaining to the Patterned Body Anthropomorph iconic motif or PBAs found in Coso Range rock art sites in south-central California. The authors propose that recurring patterns found on some of the more representational or identifiable rock art elements in the region reveal the presence of an ancient set of visual motifs that continue to be found in oral tradition and symbolic culture of descendent Numic and broader Uto-Aztecan Native peoples including the Hopi and Huichol. Coso PBAs have become a prominent archetypical image of California and American rock art evinced by their use as trademarks for both the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, California and as employed by the United States national rock art organization, the American Rock Art Research Association (ARARA). The present research investigates the possible evolution of ideas and interpretations associated with these figures. We explore the PBA as a formalized perception of a deity and/or supra-mundane being, as an adorant, shaman, Animal Master/Mistress, and bearer of the “eye of god” or nierika motif of southern Mesoamerica’s, Uto-Aztecan ethnic groups.” ref 

MYTH, RITUAL AND ROCK ART: COSO DECORATED ANIMAL-HUMANS AND THE ANIMAL MASTER

“Abstract: Recent interpretations of rock art have often focused on these images as a somewhat exclusive record of shamanic experiences. Consideration of decorated animal-human figures (Patterned Body Anthropomorphs-PBAs) within the Coso Rock Art Complex in eastern California, in conjunction with the mythology of Kawaiisu, other Numic and Tubatulabal groups, suggests an alternative (or perhaps complementary) view. Coso PBAs may be representations of an important supernatural — possibly the netherworld master of the animals. This interpretation, if valid, provides further support for Coso rock art as a manifestation of a hunting religion complex. Such a complex prominently featured animal ceremonialism and functioned in part as a means to envision a supernatural agent that had special powers controlling the movements of animals and restoring game to the human world.” ref

“About the art above:

Yahwera panel with a side-by-side comparison with Coso PBA panel from Litte Petroglyph Canyon (aka Renegade Canyon). Scale of Coso PBA enlarged to allow a direct  comparison with Back Canyon image. right pic above: Kawaisu Yahwera deity. Yahwera Kahniina, home of the Kawaiisu Animal Master and location of the entrance portal to the Animal Underworld. Back Canyon pictogram panel is located on a columnar island of limestone in Walker Basin, California.” ref

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MYTH, RITUAL, AND ROCK ART: COSO DECORATED ANIMAL-HUMANS AND THE ANIMAL MASTER

“Yahwera also has a special relationship with mountain quail, and in three narratives (two Kawaiisu and one Tubatulabal) he fathers a profusion of quail progeny by his human spouse. Yahwera lives in a cave, hole, or tunnel deep within the earth, where the spirits of deceased game animals dwell.” ref 

Acoustic Archaeology at the Animal Master’s Portal

“In the traditional worldview of the Kawaiisu, Yahwera, or the Master of the Animals, is a bird-human who lives and reigns over the Animal Underworld. The entrance to his subterranean abode is a natural feature on the landscape, a named, limestone rock portal upon which a rock painting depicts Yahwera. Kawaiisu oral narratives emphasize sound qualities attaching to this supernatural figure. Narratives also associate the “sound of the deer in the rock” with this sacred place. Indeed, the limestone monolith can be induced to exhibit acoustical attributes, specifically, multiple echoes that would seem to offer an impression of hoofbeats. Drawing on varied data, this study seeks insights into the meaning of the Yahwera narratives and the relationships of sound to elements of Kawaiisu cosmology.” ref 

“The Kawaiisu Nation (pronounced: “ka-wai-ah-soo”^]) are a tribe of indigenous people of California in the United States. Tribal members lived in a series of small and large permanent villages in the Tehachapi Valley and to the north across the Tehachapi Pass in the southern Sierra Nevada, toward Lake Isabella and Walker Pass, and all the way to the Pacific. Historically, the Kawaiisu also traveled eastward and westward on food-gathering trips to areas in the northern Mojave Desert, to the north and northeast of the Antelope Valley, Searles Valley, as far east as the Panamint Valley, the Panamint Mountains the western edge of Death Valley and to the Pacific Coast. – The Kawaiisu considered the Coso Range near Ridgecrest Ca. the site of their creation and their most sacred land.” ref

“They are well known for their rock art/Po-o-ka-di that exists throughout their territory, including on the Chana Lake Naval Weapons Center. Kawaiisu complex basket weaving was recognized as the finest in the Americas. The Kawaiisu language is a member of the Southern Numic division of the Uto-Aztecan language family. The Kawaiisu homeland was bordered by speakers of non-Numic Uto-Aztecan languages.” ref

“The Kawaiisu have been mislabeled and mistakenly known by several other names, including the Caliente, Paiute, Tehachapi Valley Indians, and Tehachapi Indians, but they called themselves depending on dialect Nuwu, New-wa, Nu-oo-ah or Niwiwi, meaning “The People.” The tribal designations as “Kawaiisu” are English adoptions of the Yokutsan words used by the neighboring Yokuts. They self-identification term Nüwa (“People”) is commonly used by themselves.” ref

“Before European contact, the Kawaiisu lived in 100s 0f permanent winter villages of 60 to 100 people. They often divided into smaller groups during the warmer months of the year and harvested plants(included pinon nuts) in the mountains and deserts. They hunted animals and fished for food and raw materials. They were known for their mining and trading of obsidian throughout the western Americas and deep into Mexico. They were also known for their building of sturdy tulle boats used for fishing and transportation. Some believe they were divided in two regional groups: the “Desert Kawaiisu” and the “Mountain Kawaiisu.” ref

“The Kawaiisu are related by language and culture to the Southern Paiute of southwestern Nevada and the Chemehuevi of the eastern Mojave Desert of California. They may have originally lived in the desert before coming to the Tehachapi Mountains region, as early as many thousands of years ago. The Kawaiisu participated in cooperative antelope drives (driving herds of antelope into traps so they could be more easily slaughtered) with the Yokuts, another group living in the San Joaquin Valley. Since 1863, after the Kawaiisu Massacre at Tillie Creek, they have often been in conflict with the tribe in the mountains north of them.” ref

“The Kawaiisu are famous for their petroglyphs and rock art. The Kawaiisu culture is matriarchal. The estimates of the Kawaiisu tribal membership are grossly undercounted. Kawaiisu members sometimes called themselves the “Coso People” or even joined other tribes to protect themselves and their families. Today , the Kawaiisu’s own tribal records indicate that total eligible members may be as high as 100,000 and with one family having up to 10,000 eligible members.” ref

Sifting through the relation of Bird spirits/deities of the sky (20,000 to 5,000 years ago)

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Trinity Evolution Started over 30,000 years ago, Maybe?

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Sun and Moon Goddesses

Utakke: Creator god, High god, Sky spirit

“Utakke is the great sky god of the Carrier tribes. He is a benevolent creator spirit who sometimes intervenes to help people in distress. His name means “He who lives on high.” Related figures in other tribes: Nesaru (Arikara), Kitche Manitou (Chippewa).” ref

“In the Andean tradition, Pachamama (Cosmic Mother), Wiraqucha (God or Cosmic Father), Tayta Inti (Father Sun), Ttita Wayra (Father Wind), Mama Unu (Mother Water), Mama Killa (Mother Moon) and Mama Ch’aska (Mother Stars) can be seen all over the world.” ref

“Achiyalabopa was the great bird god of the Zuñi people. He was extraordinary in size and had rainbow-colored feathers as sharp as knives. Research of stories, about Achiyalabopa all agree that “He” is the god of the sky, calm, bright, and beautiful skies.” ref

“Ababinili is the Creator God of the Chickasaw tribe. His name means “the one who sits above” or “dwells above”, and is associated with the Sun.” ref

“Above-Old-Man (Gudatrigakwitl): High god/Creator Wiyot people. Related figures in other tribes: Gitchie Manitou (Ojibway), Ouga (Cherokee), Wakan-Tanka (Sioux). Gudatrigakwitl means “The Ancient One Above” in the Wiyot language, and is the Wiyot name for the Creator (God.) Gudatrigakwitl is a divine spirit with no human form or attributes and is never personified in Wiyot myths.” ref

“Agugux (Aguguq, Agu’gux, Agug’uq), This is the name of the Aleut creator god. Agugux is a disembodied spirit not normally personified in Aleutian stories. His name literally means “Creator” and is associated with the sun and the eastern direction.” ref

“Ahone (Rawottonemd) is the great creator god of the Powhatan tribe, sometimes known as the Great Spirit or the Creator, and like most Algonquian high deities, Ahone appears to have been an abstract, benevolent, creative spirit who was not personified in folklore (and probably had no gender).” ref

“Ahone created the world as a flat disk with the Powhatan tribe at its center. He was a chief god and creator but also considered to be detached from mankind and required no offerings or sacrifices like many other gods. The god Oki was his wrathful counterpart.” ref

The Powhatans worshipped a number of spirits, the most important of whom was Okee. Men cut their hair in imitation of Okee’s. To assuage his anger in times of crisis or court his pleasure before the hunt, they made sacrifices. Other spirits included the benevolent Ahone, the Great Hare creator god, an unnamed female divinity, and the Sun god. In charge of managing relations with these various spirits were the kwiocosuk, or shamans, who lived apart from common Powhatans and wielded the society’s ultimate authority. Quiocosins, or holy temples, housed the shamans and hosted various rituals. When weroances, or chiefs, died, they were reduced to bundles of bones and, for several years, stored in the temples. The Powhatans also had a variety of rituals associated with eating, hunting, male initiation, and the killing of prisoners of war. Smith described what appeared to be a “conjuration” and, on another occasion, a three-day dance that may have been a yearly harvest festival.” ref, ref 

“Akba Atatdia (Akbaatatdia, Isaahka, Isaahkawuattee, Baakukkule, Iichikbaaalee; Old Man Coyote, First Coyote, First Maker, Old Man), Coyote played the role of both Creator and Trickster in Crow Indian mythology.” ref

“Apistotoke (Apistotoki, Apistotooki, A’pistotooki, Apistotokio, Apisstotoki, A’pistitooki; other names: Ihtsipatapiyohpa, Iihtsipaitapiiyo’pa, Great Spirit), the great creator god of the Blackfoot tribe, “Our Creator” in the Blackfoot language.” ref

“Great Spirit” called Manitou and the name for their supreme being is “Apistotoke” which is believed to be one in the same with the Sun (Nah-too-si). The Sun was considered the most important of all and was at the center of Blackfoot religious beliefs.” ref

“Awonawilona. – Dual deity of the Zuñi Indians of New Mexico. He created a universe of nine layers. Earth, a large round island surrounded by oceans, is located on the central layer. The first people lived deep in the womb of Mother Earth ( Awitelin Tsta ). Then Father Sun ( Apoyan Tachi ) ordered his twin sons, the gods of war, to take them to earth because he was bored and had no one to pray to.” ref 

Ababinili, the Creator God of the Chickasaw

“High god, Creator, sun god: Ababinili is the Creator God of the Chickasaw tribe. His name means “one who sits above” or “dwells above,” and he is associated with the Sun. Also known as: Inki Abu. Related figures in other tribes: Unetlanvhi (Cherokee), Gitchy Manitou (Ojibway), Ahone (Powhatan).” ref 

“Agugux (Agug’uq), the Aleut Creator,” and he is associated with the sun and the eastern direction.” ref 

“Inti is the ancient Inca sun god. He is revered as the national patron of the Inca state. Although most consider Inti the sun god, he is more appropriately viewed as a cluster of solar aspects, since the Inca divided his identity according to the stages of the sun.” ref

“Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé is one of the creation spirits of the Navajo. She helped create the sky and the earth. Changing Woman, mother of twins Monster Slayer and Born for Water (fathered by the sun).” ref

“Viracocha was Worshiped as the God of the Sun and storms. A creator deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. For the Inca the Viracocha cult was more important than the sun cult.” ref

Nakuset: Sky God, Sun being, Old Man

“In Mi’kmaq mythology, Nákúset, the Sun, was the first being created by the Creator god Kisu’lkw. He is often personified as an old man in Micmac myth, and his alternate name, Niskam, literally means “grandfather.” Related figures in other tribes: Notos (Blackfoot).” ref

Tamosi: Ancient One, Sky-Chief, Old-Man-Sky, Grandfather Sky

“Tamosi is the great Creator god “Old Man-Sky” [Kabu = the Sun] of the Carib tribe. Related figures in other tribes: Kururumany (Arawak), Gitchie Manitou (Anishinabe).” ref, ref

“Tirawa: High God, Creator, “Father Above” Related figures in other tribes: Neshanu (Arikara), Sky Chief (Caddo), Gitche Manitou (Chippewa). Atius Tirawa is the Creator god “Father Above” in the Pawnee language. Sometimes, the Plains Indian term “Great Spirit” is also used. His wife was Atira, goddess of the Earth.” ref, ref 

Pawnee mythology

“Atíʼas Tirawa, which means “Our Father Above” in the Pawnee language (inaccurately, as “Great Spirit”), was the creator god. The wife of Tirawa was Atira, goddess of the Earth. Tirawahat told Sakuru, the Sun god, to stand in the east.” ref, ref

Unetlanvhi: High god, Creator, “Great Spirit”

“Unetlanvhi, which literally means “Creator,” is the Cherokee name for God. Sometimes Cherokee people today also refer to the Creator as the “Great Spirit,” a borrowed phrase. In other tribes: Maheu (Cheyenne), Gitchie Manitou (Ojibway), Ahone (Powhatan).” ref

“Hahgwehdiyu is the Iroquois god of goodness and light, as well as a creator god. He and his twin brother Hahgwehdaetgah, the god of evil, were children of Atahensic the Sky Woman (or Tekawerahkwa the Earth Woman), whom Hahgwehdaetgah killed in childbirth.” ref

Wakonda: High god, Creator, Great Spirit

“Wakonda is the great Creator power of the Osage, Omaha, and Ponca tribes. Osage: refer to the sun as “Grandfather Sun” and the moon as “Moon Woman.” ref, ref

Wakan Tanka: High god, Creator, Great Mystery

“Wakan Tanka is the great Creator power of the Lakota and Dakota tribes. In other tribes: Wakanda (Omaha), Earth-maker (Ho-chunk), Gitche Manitou (Ojibway).” ref

“Wakan Tanka told him that his People had become lazy in their prayers, so he sent them a new way of praying–the Sun Dance. In a Sun Dance, dancers offer their bodies as a sacrifice on behalf of all the people.” ref

Natosi: Male Sky God, sun being

“Natosi: Niskam (Mi’kmaq) is the Blackfoot sun god. The name Naato’si does not literally mean “sun” in Blackfoot– it actually means “holy one,” although it is sometimes used to refer to the sun in everyday speech as well. His wife is Komorkis, the moon, and their children are the stars.” ref

“Catequil (A.k.a. Apocatequil, Apu Catequil) was the tutelar god of day and good, thunder, and lightning in northern Peruvian highlands. Catequil and his twin brother Piguerao were born from hatched eggs. Catequil considered a regional variant of god Illapa.” ref

“Bridge of the Gods story told by the Klickitat people of the Pacific Northwest. The chief of all the gods “Great Spirit” and his two sons, WyEast (Mt. Hood) and Pahtoe, or Klickitat (Mt. Adams).” ref, ref

Ahone (Rawottonemd), creator god of the Powhatan

“Ahone is the great creator god of the Powhatan tribe, sometimes known as the Great Spirit or Creator in English. Like most Algonquian high deities, Ahone appears to have been an abstract.” ref

Above-Old-Man (Gudatrigakwitl), creator god of the Wiyot

“Gudatrigakwitl means “The Ancient One Above” in the Wiyot language, and is the Wiyot name for the Creator (God.)” ref

“Hisagita Misa (Breath-Maker), is the Creator God of the Seminole tribe. Hisagita-imisi (“preserver of breath”) was the supreme god, a solar deity. He is also called Ibofanga (“the one who is sitting above (us).” ref, ref

Chief Above, Great Father Above, Sky Chief, Great Spirit

“Type: High gods, creator gods, spirits of the sky. Related figures in other tribes: Nishanu (Arikara), Tirawa (Pawnee), Gitchie Manitou (Chippewa). Caddi Ayo means “Sky Chief” or “Chief Above” in the Caddo language, and is the Caddo name for the Creator (God.) Sometimes, the Plains Indian term “Great Spirit” is also used.” ref

“Gitche Manitou means “Great Spirit” in several Algonquian languages. In more recent Anishinaabe culture, the Anishinaabe language word Gichi-manidoo means Great Spirit, the Creator of all things and the Giver of Life, and is sometimes translated as the “Great Mystery”. Historically, Anishinaabe people believed in a variety of spirits, whose images were placed near doorways for protection. Other Anishinaabe names for God incorporated through the process of syncretism are Gizhe-manidoo (“venerable Manidoo“), Wenizhishid-manidoo (“Fair Manidoo“) and Gichi-ojichaag (“Great Spirit”). While Gichi-manidoo and Gichi-ojichaag both mean “Great Spirit”, Gichi-manidoo carried the idea of the greater spiritual connectivity while Gichi-ojichaag carried the idea of individual soul’s connection to the Gichi-manidoo. In addition to the Algonquian Anishinaabeg, many other tribes believed in Gitche Manitou. References to the Great Manitou by the Cheyenne and the Oglala Sioux (notably in the recollections of Black Elk), indicate that belief in this deity extended into the Great Plains, fully across the wider group of Algonquian peoples.” ref

“The Thunderbirds were the most powerful spirits except for the Great Spirit, who was the most powerful of all. The Great Spirit was the Sioux God.” ref

Parallelism in Sioux and Sami Spiritual Traditions

“The Sámi are an Indigenous peoples inhabiting the region of Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Kola Peninsula in Russia.” ref

“Parallelism in Sioux (Indigenous people of the Great Plains of North America) and Sami (Indigenous people of Northern Scandinavia) Spiritual Traditions.” ref

“Great Spirit deities: High god, Creator Related figures in other tribes: Wakan Tanka (Sioux), First Maker (Hidatsa), Gitchee Manitou (Ojibway). Earthmaker is the Creator God of the Hochunk (Winnebago) tribe. His primary name Man’una and its variants literally mean “Earth-maker,” but he is sometimes also known by other titles such as Wajaguzera (Creator or Maker of Things), Wakanchank (Great Spirit,) Uwashira (Master), and so on. Earthmaker is considered to be a divine spirit but unlike the Great Spirit deities of the other Siouan tribes, is sometimes personified in Hochunk myths, interacting directly with humankind.” ref 

“Micmac spirit Kisulkw: High god, Creator, “Great Grandfather,” “Great Lord,” or “Great Spirit.” Related figures in other tribes: Niwaskw (Abenaki), Gitche Manitou (Ojibway), Kitanitowit (Lenape).” ref

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Religion: high gods

Sky Father/Sky Mother “High Gods” or similar gods/goddesses of the sky more loosely connected, seeming arcane mythology across the earth seen in Siberia, China, Europe, Native Americans/First Nations People and Mesopotamia, etc.

Sky Father/Sky Mother “High Gods” or similar gods/goddesses of the sky more loosely connected, seeming arcane mythology across the earth seen in Siberia, China, Europe, Native Americans/First Nations People and Mesopotamia, etc.

KING OF BEASTS: Master of Animals “Ritual” Motif, around 6,000 years old or older…

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Duality in mythology: Dual Deities, Devine Couple, or Devine Twins beyond Proto-Indo-European

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Navajo twins in Navajo mythology

“The Diné believe they are sustained as a nation because of their enduring faith in the Great Spirit. Because of their strong spirituality, the Navajo people believe they will continue to survive as an Indian nation forever.” ref

4. Southern Athabascan/Dené–Yeniseian, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak, Athabaska, Southern Athabascan. Eyak is not an Athabaskan language, but a coordinate sub-branch to Athabaskan as a whole in the Athabaskan-Eyak branch of the Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit language family.” ref, ref 

Tsohanoai

“The Navaho sun god. He is conceived of as a man who carries the sun on his back. At night Tsohanoai, ‘sun bearer’, is said to hang the sun on a peg on the west wall of his house.” ref

“Tsohanoai – “Sun Bearer,” is the sun-spirit of the Navajo. In some myths, he is depicted as a man carrying the sun on his back. The sun as his shining shield. At nightfall, his journey completed, he joins his wife, the season goddess Estsanatlehi, in her square house in the west.” ref

“Tsohanoai, the Navajo Sun Bearer, is more than just a deity; he’s a cosmic force that shapes the very fabric of Navajo life. As the sun’s carrier, he ensures the daily cycle of light and dark, a rhythm that’s essential to the Navajo understanding of the world. His role isn’t merely symbolic; it’s a practical necessity, providing the warmth and energy needed for life to thrive. Beyond his celestial duties, Tsohanoai represents the interconnectedness of all things. He’s a symbol of life’s cycles, from the growth of crops to the passage of time. The Navajo people honor him through rituals, songs, and prayers, recognizing his vital role in their culture and spirituality.” ref

“Tsohanoai, the Navajo Sun Bearer, is a figure of both celestial beauty and cosmic power. He’s often depicted as a radiant blue disk, symbolizing the sun he carries across the sky. Sometimes, the disk has eyes and a mouth, hinting at his divine nature and the life-giving energy he brings. In other representations, he’s shown as a strong, human-like figure, emphasizing his enduring role in Navajo mythology. Whether he’s a disk or a man, Tsohanoai’s appearance reflects his connection to the sun. He’s often described as glowing with warmth and light, mirroring the sun’s power. His journey across the sky is a daily ritual, a cosmic dance that brings balance to the world. Adorned with colors and symbols of the sun, Tsohanoai is a figure of awe and reverence. He’s more than just a deity; he’s a living embodiment of the sun’s life-giving energy, a constant reminder of the cyclical nature of existence.” ref

Family

“Tsohanoai, the Navajo Sun Bearer, isn’t alone in his cosmic journey. He’s part of a powerful family that shapes the very fabric of Navajo mythology. His parents, the Earth Mother and Father Sky, represent the unity of the earth and sky, a fundamental belief in Navajo culture. Tsohanoai’s family isn’t just about ancestry; it’s about relationships and roles. His wife, Changing Woman, is a goddess of transformation, and together, they have two sons, the Hero Twins. These twins embark on epic quests, often seeking their father’s help to battle evil forces.” ref

Other names

“Tsohanoai, the Sun Bearer, is known by many names, each reflecting a different facet of his power. He’s been called “Tsohano,” emphasizing his dominion over the sun. He’s also been referred to as simply the “Sun God,” connecting him to other sun deities in indigenous cultures. These different names highlight his versatility and adaptability within Navajo culture. They show how his story has evolved and resonated with different tribes and communities, enriching the mythology surrounding him. Whether he’s the Sun Bearer, Tsohano, or simply the Sun God, Tsohanoai’s role in Navajo mythology remains the same: he’s the celestial force that carries the sun across the sky, bringing light and life to the world.” ref

Powers and Abilities

“Tsohanoai, the Sun Bearer, is more than just a celestial figure; he’s a cosmic force that shapes the world. As the embodiment of the sun, he brings light, warmth, and life to the earth. But his powers extend beyond the physical; he’s also a spiritual guide, offering wisdom and insight to those who seek him. The Navajo people revere Tsohanoai for his control over nature. He influences weather patterns, seasons, and the growth of crops, essential for their agricultural way of life. His movements in the sky are seen as signs of the changing seasons, guiding their planting and harvesting.” ref

“Tsohanoai’s primary power is his ability to carry the sun across the sky, ensuring the daily cycle of light and dark. This isn’t just a task; it’s a cosmic duty that brings life and sustenance to the world. Beyond the sun, he’s also believed to control weather patterns, a power invoked in prayers for favorable conditions. Tsohanoai’s influence extends beyond the sun’s path. He’s a protector, sharing his powers with his sons, the Hero Twins, to help them fight evil. Through his family and his cosmic role, Tsohanoai is a figure of immense power and influence in Navajo mythology.” ref

“Native Americans have several versions of a sun god. Two of those are the Creek god Hisakitaimisi and Tsohanoai of Navajo tradition. Native American deities, or gods, serve many purposes in the Native American culture. They help to explain the creation of our world, the existence, habits, and personalities of the animals, and the energy and spirit of the land, water, and all of nature, among other things. There are numerous Native American tribes spread throughout the United States, and these peoples all have different cultures, and beliefs, and while each has their own deities and storytelling histories, there are also many similarities, as well.” ref

“One such commonality is the belief in a Great Spirit, or Creator deity, who is responsible for the creation of the Earth and all of her aspects and inhabitants. Another common deity is the trickster, a mischievous spirit often considered to be a nuisance because its tricks transform the state of the world, creating chaos and uncertainty. All of the Native American deities serve the purpose of explaining our world, how it came to be, how it became the world we know today, and our role in this life.” ref

“Native American god names are abundant, and there are many Native American gods and goddesses, but their stories tend to serve the same four primary purposes across the different tribes:

• Native American deities help to explain the world around us. They tell of how this world was created.
• Deities also explain the nature of the world. They are the energy in the clouds, the water, the forests, and the animals. They are the power behind terrific rainstorms, blinding blizzards, hurricanes, angry, swirling tornados.
• Myths and stories of deities helped elders pass along the tribes’ beliefs and tradition through storytelling.
• These deities and storytelling helped to show people how to live in harmony with the world.
• The Great Spiritis a very important Native American deity. The Great Spirit is responsible for the existence of the universe. The Great Spirit is part of the animals, part of the land, and part of the water. It is in all the natural world. Some say that the Great Spirit is akin to the Christian concept of God, but many Native Americans disagree with this assessment.
• Native Americans in general believe that the Great Spirit brought the universe into existence and then assigned Creator gods to do the detailed work of finishing creation and supervising the running of the world. The Great Spirit is known by many names, including Chebbeniathan (Arapaho), Maheu (Cheyenne), Manitou (Iroquois), and Wakantanka (Sioux).
• The Lakota creation story is one of the most interesting ones. It is similar to the Biblical story of the great flood that God used to re-create humankind. In the Lakota story, the Great Spirit was displeased with people and began to sing to bring forth the rains. By the fourth song, the water overwhelmed the Earth, causing it to crack and water to rush up and flood the Earth. By the time the flood was over, only the crow survived. The crow pleaded with the Great Spirit to make him a new place to rest, and so the Great Spirit decided to recreate the world.
• The Great Spirit sent four animals- a loon, an otter, a beaver, and finally, a turtle- to bring back mud from beneath the waters. Only the turtle was successful. The Great Spirit used that mud to create land for the crow. He named the new land “Turtle Continent” in honor of the turtle who brought forth the mud.” ref

 List of Native American deities

Here are some that are sky-related:

Pamola – Bird spirit; causes cold weather – Abenaki

Taiowa – Sun spirit, creator – Hopi

Matshishkapeu – Spirit of the anus “farting/bad-wind as a weapon” – Innu

Igaluk – Lunar deity – Inuit

Torngasoak – Sky god – Inuit

Gaoh – Wind god – Iroquois

Gendenwitha – Maiden, transformed into Morning Star by Dawn – Iroquois

Hahgwehdiyu – Creator; god of goodness and light. Twin of Hahgwehdaetgan – Iroquois

Skell – sky god – Klamath

Kewkwaxa’we – Raven spirit – Kwakiutl

Wi – Solar spirit, father of Whope (spirit of peace) – Lakota

Niskam – The sun; architect – Mi’kmaq

Niltsi – Wind god – Navajo

Niłchʼi Diyin (Navajo pronunciation: [nɪ̀ɬtʃʼɪ̀ tɪ̀jɪ̀n], ‘Holy Wind’) – Navajo

Tó Neinilii – ‘Water sprinkler,’ rain god – Navajo

Jóhonaaʼéí – Sun – Navajo

Yoołgai Asdzą́ą́ – ‘White-shell woman,’ lunar deity – Navajo 

Black God – Creator of the stars, god of fire – Navajo  

Pah – Lunar deity – Pawnee 

Shakuru – Solar deity – Pawnee 

Tirawa/Atíʼas Tirawa – “Our Father Above” (often translated, “Great Spirit”) was the creator god – Pawnee

Amotken – supreme deity, an elderly man who lives alone in heaven – Salish

Eagentci – Sky goddess – Seneca

Kaakvha – Solar deity – Seneca

Anpao – Spirit with two faces that represents the dawn – Sioux

Dohkwibuhch – Creator god in the sky world – Snohomish

Yaya (Hayah) – Supreme God/Great Spirit – Taíno

Guabancex – Top Storm Goddess; the Lady of the Winds – Taíno

Juracán – The zemi or deity of chaos and weather, particularly hurricanes – Taíno

Guatauva – god of thunder and lightning, also responsible for rallying the other storm gods – Taíno

Coatrisquie – torrential downpour Goddess, servant of Guabancex and side-kick of thunder God Guatauva – Taíno

Boinayel – God of the sun and of good weather; Marohu’s twin brother – Taíno

Márohu – God of the moon and of rain, rainstorms, and floods; Boinayel’s twin brother – Taíno

Chinigchinix/Quaoar – creator deity “Chingichngish avengers” Raven, Rattlesnake, Bear, & others – Tongva

Heng – Storm god – Wyandot 

Iosheka – Creator god, his twin brother Tawiscara as they fought for world control – Wyandot 

“Native Americans are traditionally very spiritual people, and most tribes revere “The Great Spirit.” This is an English translation of The Creator, a deity or “God”. Native American culture, to this day, honors and is mindful of The Great Spirit, and Native American blankets like the Pendleton Rio Canyon blanket (pictured) pay homage to the presence of The Great Spirit in all living things.” ref

What is The Great Spirit?

“While some Native Americans have come to consider The Great Spirit and the Abrahamic God to be one and the same (and even a result of European colonialization), for others, there has always been a belief in a Great Mystery and force in and amongst everything in the Universe. The concept of a universal spiritual force represents a god of creation and eternity. It speaks through chosen individuals or mediators and provides guidance to humans.” ref

“Many tribes have different names for The Great Spirit, for example:

• Wakan Tanka – Sioux Great Spirit
• Manitou – Iroquois Great Spirit
• Apistotoke – Blackfoot Great Spirit
• Maheo – Cheyenne Great Spirit
• Tirawa Atius – Pawnee Great Spirit” ref

“The Great Spirit is perceived as both male and female, separate but one divine deity, though some tribes refer to it as “Father,” “Grandfather,” or “Old Man.” The Mother Earth aspect of The Great Spirit harks back to Neolithic Goddess culture. Women shared equality with men and the Divine Feminine was the source of animal, vegetation, and human life. In the post-Goddess era, the masculine hierarchy thrived, yet among Native American tribal culture, the masculine and feminine are far more generally balanced than for most Western religions and cultural traditions. Women in Native American culture enjoy an influence and respect exceeding that of almost any other culture worldwide.” ref

• “The Great Spirit is seen by the Lakota Sioux, for example, as an amalgamation of Father Sky (the dominant force), Mother Earth, and an array of Spirits who oversee human life and the elements.
• The Shoshone call their creator god “Tam Apo” which translates as “Our Father”.
• Some tribes represent the Supreme Being as an animal, most often a wolf, having human thought and speech.” ref

Other Native Religious Concepts

“American Indian religions feature certain other distinct beliefs and traditions:

• Mythological anthropomorphic animals imbued with spirits.
• Spirits inhabit everything from the stars to rivers, mountains, rocks, fire, air, animals, insects, lakes, and the earth itself.
• Belief in reincarnation into human or animal form.
• Ghosts walking the Earth among the living.
• A heavenly afterlife. Those tribes which are based on nomadic hunting culture (e.g., the Plains Indians) tend to favor a belief in a “Happy Hunting Ground”, or an afterlife in a place with a bounty of game. Those which are based on agriculture (agrarian tribes – e.g., the Hopi) tend to believe the afterlife is in a land beneath or inside the Earth, and it is from here that Mother Earth renews life.” ref

“Navajo culture, the Great Spirit is known as Naayéé (Ya-hey) and is believed to offer guidance and protection to those who seek it.” ref

Weather Deity

“A weather god or goddess, also frequently known as a storm god or goddess, is a deity in mythology associated with weather phenomena such as thunder, snow, lightning, rain, wind, storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Should they only be in charge of one feature of a storm, they will be called after that attribute, such as a rain god or a lightning/thunder god. This singular attribute might then be emphasized more than the generic, all-encompassing term “storm god”, though with thunder/lightning gods, the two terms seem interchangeable. They feature commonly in polytheistic religions, especially in Proto-Indo-European ones. Storm gods are most often conceived of as wielding thunder and/or lightning (some lightning gods’ names actually mean “thunder,” but since one cannot have thunder without lightning, they presumably wielded both). The ancients didn’t seem to differentiate between the two, which is presumably why both the words “lightning bolt” and “thunderbolt” exist despite being synonyms. Of the examples currently listed storm themed deities are more frequently depicted as male, but both male and female storm or other rain, wind, or weather deities are described.” ref

“Central America, South America, and the Caribbean

• Apocatequil, Pre-Incan god of lightning, the day and good. Regional variant of god Illapa.
• Chaac, Maya rain god. Aztec equivalent is Tlaloc.
• Coatrisquie, Taíno rain goddess, servant of Guabancex, and sidekick of thunder god Guatauva.
• Cocijo, Zapotec god of lightning.
• Ehecatl, Aztec god of wind.
• Guabancex, top Taíno storm goddess; the Lady of the Winds who also dishes out earthquakes and other natural disasters.
• Guatauva, Taíno god of thunder and lightning who is also responsible for rallying the other storm gods.
• Huari, Pre-Incan god of water, rain, lightning, agriculture, and war. After a period of time, he was identified as a giant god of war, sun, water, and agriculture.
• Huracán, K’iche Maya god of the weather, wind, storms, and fire.
• Illapa, Inca god of lightning, thunder, rain, and war. He is considered one of the most important and powerful Inca gods.
• Juracán, Taíno zemi or deity of chaos and disorder believed to control the weather, particularly hurricanes.
• K’awiil, classic Maya god of lightning.
• Kon, Inca god of wind and rain. Kon is also a creator god.
• Pachakamaq, Inca god of earthquakes, fire, the clouds, and sky. Commonly described as a reissue of Wiracocha. He was one of the most important Inca gods, as well as he is considered the creator god of the universe and controller of the balance of the world.
• Paryaqaqa, Pre-Incan god of water, torrential rains, storms, and lightning. Regional variant of the god Illapa.
• Q’uq’umatz, K’iche Maya god of wind and rain, also known as Kukulkan, Aztec equivalent is Quetzalcoatl.
• Tezcatlipoca, Aztec god of hurricanes and night winds.
• Tlaloc, Aztec rain and earthquake god. Mayan equivalent is Chaac.
• Tohil, K’iche Maya god of rain, sun, and fire.
• Tupã, the Guaraní god of thunder and light. Creator of the universe.
• Wiracocha, the Inca and Pre-Incan god of everything. Absolute creator of the entire Cosmos, as well as everything in existence. Considered the father of all the Inca gods and supreme god of the Inca pantheon. Wiracocha was associated with the sun, lightning, and storms.
• Yana Raman, Pre-Incan god of lightning. Considered creator by the Yaros or Llacuaces ethnic group. Regional variant of the god Illapa.
• Yopaat, a Classic-period Maya storm god.” ref

“A wind god is a god who controls the wind(s). Air deities may also be considered here as wind is nothing more than moving air. Many polytheistic religions have one or more wind gods. They may also have a separate air god or a wind god may double as an air god. Many wind gods are also linked with one of the four seasons.” ref

Native American Wind/Air Deities

• Epigishmog, god of the west wind and spiritual being of ultimate destiny.

• Oonawieh Unggi, the ancient spirit of the wind.

• Da-jo-jo, mighty panther spirit of the west wind.
• Gǎ-oh, spirit of the wind.
• Ne-o-gah, gentle fawn spirit of the south wind.
• O-yan-do-ne, moose spirit of the east wind.
• Ya-o-gah, destructive bear spirit of the north wind who is stopped by Gǎ-oh.

• Silap Inua, the weather god who represents the breath of life and lures children to be lost in the tundra.

• Okaga, fertility goddess of the south winds.
• Taku Skanskan, capricious master of the four winds.
• Tate, a wind god or spirit in Lakota mythology.
• Waziya, giant of the north winds who brings icy weather, famine, and diseases.
• Wiyohipeyata, god of the west winds who oversees endings and events of the night.
• Wiyohiyanpa, god of the east winds who oversees beginnings and events of the day.
• Yum, the whirlwind son of Anog Ite.

• Niltsi, ally of the Heroic Twins and one of the guardians of the sun gods.

Pawnee

• Hotoru, the giver of breath invoked in religious ceremonies.

“Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-European cultures, the thunder god is frequently known as the chief or King of the Gods, e.g. Indra in Hinduism, Zeus in Greek mythology, Zojz in Albanian mythology, and Perun in ancient Slavic religion.” ref

Thunder Deities of the Americas

• Thunderbird (Iroquois and Huron mythology)
• Hé-no (Iroquois and Seneca mythology)
• Aktzin (Totonac mythology)
• Wakíŋyaŋ (Sioux/Lakota mythology)
• Xolotl and Tlaloc (Aztec mythology)
• Cocijo (Zapotec mythology)
• Chaac (Maya mythology)
• Yopaat (Maya mythology)
• Chibchacum (Muisca mythology)
• Apocatequil (Inca mythology)
• Illapa (Inca mythology)
• Tunupa (Aymara mythology)
• Tupã (Guarani mythology)
• Kasogonagá (Toba mythology)
• Mur (Atibaia’s mythology)” ref

“There are many different gods of rain in different religions, including those found in the Americas: 

• Yuttoere, in De’ne’ and Carrier
• Asiaq, goddess among Greenlandic Inuit, and Inuit in Northern Canada
• Shotokunungwa of Hopi people
• Henderson (Feral discord mythology)
• Tó Neinilii of Navajo people
• Coyote (Navajo mythology)

• Chaac, in Maya religion;
• Tohil, in K’iche’ Maya mythology
• Q’uq’umatz, another K’iche’ Maya rain god
• Tlaloc, in Aztec and all the other Nahua religions;
• Cocijo, in Zapotec religion;
• Tirípeme Curicaueri, in Purépecha religion;
• Dzahui, in Mixtec religion;
• Mu’ye, in Otomi religion
• Jaguar, in Olmec religion
• Quiateot of the Nicarao people in Nicaragua

• Eschetewuarha of Chamacoco
• Chibchacum in the religion of the Muisca” ref

 “Naayééʼ Neizghání (Navajo pronunciation: [nɑ̀ːjéːʔ nèɪ̀zɣɑ́nɪ́]) is a mythical hero from Navajo mythology who, along with his brother Tóbájízhchíní, rid the world of the Naayééʼ.” ref

Meeting the Sun God

“At one point, the brothers decided to visit their father, Jóhonaaʼéí, the sun. The trials they have to go through are different depending on the version of the story, but most involve figuring out clever ways to climb up into the sky and get past the guards of the sun’s house. Once they have proved themselves to their father, he gifts them weapons to help them kill the rest of the Naayééʼ, chief among them being a quiver full of lightning bolts.” ref

Sun Symbolism

“In Diné (Navajo) belief, the sun itself is a large circle of stone created by the Diyin Dine’é (Holy People) to provide light for this world. They fastened the sun disc to the sky in the east, but soon realized the stationary position of the sun was scorching the eastern landscape and leaving the west in winter. Jóhonaaʼéí (Sun Carrier) agreed to leave his earthly existence to become an immortal being and carry the sun across the sky each day. Sun Carrier is a figure of power, clarity, high standards, and extreme discipline in Diné culture. He applied his high standards and discipline to his own children, the Hero Twins. Before he would provide the twins with weapons to battle the Naayéé’ (Alien Monsters), Sun Carrier required them to undergo four life-threatening tests to prove their worthiness. And it is only with Sun Carrier’s power striking the first blow that the twins are able to defeat Yéʼiitsoh (Big Monster).” ref

“Turquoise Boy, who was a Nádleehi, neither male nor female, who guarded the great male reed. In this way, Turquoise Boy became the sun, Jóhonaaʼéí, The One Who Rules the Day. Fire God, the Black Yéʼii, used his fire to heat the turquoise on the buckskin until it became red hot. Then they asked Turquoise Boy to enter the glowing turquoise. “If I do that, I must be paid with the lives of the people of the earth, all the human beings, the animals which have four legs, the birds and insects of the air, the fishes, and all the people under the water.” ref 

Jóhonaaʼéí -Tales From America’s South West

“The enchanting world of Jóhonaaʼéí, a captivating collection of First Nations folk tales and legends from the California Basin and Southwestern nations.” ref 

“The Anaye (or Nayéé’, Navajo pronunciation: [nɑ̀jéːʔ]) were a race of monsters or evil gods from Navajo mythology, who were all killed by the hero Nayenezgani. According to the legend, Anaye came about when men and women separated after a dispute, resulting in the women having sexual intercourse with random objects that they found. This resulted in them giving birth to monsters resembling what their “father” was. For example, Yeitso’s was birthed from a stone.” ref 

“The Navajo people, the Diné, passed through three different worlds before emerging into this world, The Fourth World, or Glittering World. The Diné believe there are two classes of beings: the Earth People and the Holy People. The Holy People are believed to have the power to aid or harm the Earth People. Since Earth People of the Diné are an integral part of the universe, they must do everything they can to maintain harmony or balance on Mother Earth.” ref  

“It is believed that centuries ago, the Holy People taught the Diné how to live the right way and to conduct their many acts of everyday life. They were taught to live in harmony with Mother Earth, Father Sky, and the many other elements such as man, animals, plants, and insects. The Holy People put four sacred mountains in four different directions, Mt. Blanca to the east, Mt. Taylor to the south, San Francisco Peak to the west, and Mt Hesperus to the north near Durango, Colorado, thus creating Navajoland. The four directions are represented by four colors: White Shell represents the east, Turquoise the south, Yellow Abalone the west, and Jet Black the north.” ref

“The number four permeates traditional Navajo philosophy. In the Navajo culture there are four directions, four seasons, the first four clans and four colors that are associated with the four sacred mountains. In most Navajo rituals there are four songs and multiples thereof, as well as Navajo wedding basket and many other symbolic uses of four. When a disorder evolves in a Navajo’s life, such as an illness, medicine men/people use herbs, prayers, songs, and ceremonies to help cure patients. Some tribal members choose to be cured at the many hospitals on the Navajo Nation.” ref

“Some will seek the assistance of a traditional Navajo medicine man/people. A qualified medicine-man is a unique individual bestowed with supernatural powers to diagnose a person’s problem and to heal or cure an illness, and restore harmony to the patient. There are more than 50 different kinds of ceremonies that may be used in the Navajo culture – all performed at various times for a specific reason. Some ceremonies last several hours, while others may last as long as nine days.” ref

Diné Bahaneʼ Creation myth

Damien Marie AtHope’s Art

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Cosmic egg/World Egg and the Mound of Creation/Mountain of God mythology, seen around the world, are loosely related?

Comparative Mythology: the systematic comparison of mythic themes gathered from a wide variety of cultures and ideas

Sumerians and Ancient Egyptians: mountains, mounds, and temples: Ziggurats or Pyramids, with related Deities, as well as Mythology

Shell Mounds, Dolmens, Kurgans, Earth Mounds, Ziggurats, Mastabas, Pyramids: their origins, evolutions, and migrations

24,000 Years Old Proto-North Eurasian Language (Ancient North Eurasian) migrations? Became: Proto-Afroasiatic, Proto-Sino-Tibetan, Proto-Transeurasian, Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Yeniseian, Proto-Na-Dene, Proto-Caucasian, Sumerian, Proto-Austronesian, and the Basque language

Prehistoric Pacific Northwest: Shell Mounds, Culture, Religion, Migrations, Languages, Clans, Power/Elites, Inequality, and Slavery

1. Tlingit language, “spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada, and is a branch of the Na-Dene language family: Dené–Yeniseian languages, suggesting that the Na-Dene languages (Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit) might be related to the Yeniseian (or Yeniseic) languages of Siberia, the only living representative of which is the Ket language. Dene–Yeniseian is a proposed language family consisting of the Yeniseian languages of central Siberia and the Na-Dene languages of northwestern North America.” ref, ref, ref

Tlingit Cultural Values

“We have one great word in our culture: haa shageinyaa. This was a Great Spirit above us, and today we have translated that reverence to God.” ref 

“In Tlingit culture, there are two different raven characters which can be identified, although they are not always clearly differentiated. One is the creator raven, responsible for bringing the world into being and who is sometimes considered to be the individual who brought light to the darkness. The other is the childish raven, always selfish, sly, conniving, and hungry. When the Great Spirit created all things he kept them separate and stored in cedar boxes. The Great Spirit gifted these boxes to the animals who existed before humans. When the animals opened the boxes all the things that comprise the world came into being. The boxes held such things as mountains, fire, water, wind and seeds for all the plants. One such box, which was given to Seagull, contained all the light of the world. Seagull coveted his box and refused to open it, clutching it under his wing. All the people asked Raven to persuade Seagull to open it and release the light. Despite begging, demanding, flattering, and trying to trick him into opening the box, Seagull still refused. Raven became angry and frustrated, and stuck a thorn in Seagull’s foot. Raven pushed the thorn in deeper until the pain caused Seagull to drop the box. Then out of the box came the sun, moon, and stars that brought light to the world and allowed the first day to begin.” ref 

“LONG ago, even before the days of the animal people, the world was only a great ocean wherein was no land nor any living thing except a great Bird. The Bird, after a long, long time, flew down to the surface of the water and dipped his great black wings into the flood. The earth arose out of the waters. So began the creation. While the land was still soft, the first man burst from the pod of the beach pea and looked out upon the endless plain behind him and the gray salt sea before him. He was the only man. Then Raven appeared to him and the creation of other beings began. Raven made also animals for food and clothing. Later, because the earth plain was so bare, he planted trees and shrubs and grass and set the green things to growing.” ref

“With creation by a Great Spirit, there came dangers from evil spirits. Such spirits carried away the sun and moon, and hung them to the rafters of the dome-shaped Alaskan huts. The world became cold and cheerless, and in the Land of Darkness white skins became blackened by contact with the darkness. So it became necessary to search for the sun and hang it again in the dome-shaped sky above them. Darkness in the Land of Long Night was the cause, through magic, of the bitter winds of winter—winds which [vi]came down from the North, bringing with them ice and cold and snow. This was the work of some Great Spirit which had loosened the side of the gray cloud-tent under which they lived, letting in the bitter winds of another world. Spirits blow the mists over the cold north sea so that canoes lose sight of their home-land. Spirits also drive the ice floes, with their fishermen, far over the horizon of ocean, into the still colder North. Spirits govern the run of the salmon, the catching of whales, and all the life of the people of the North who wage such a terrific struggle for existence.” ref

“Many Alaskan myths are very long and tiresome, rambling from one subject to another, [vii]besides revealing low moral conditions. These have been omitted, as have also those which deal with the intermarriage of men and birds, and men and animals. Such myths are better left among government documents where they can be readily consulted by those making a special study of the subject. They are hardly suitable for any collection intended for general reading. The leading myth of the North, however, the Raven Myth, is given with a fair degree of completeness. It would not be possible, nor would it be wise, to attempt a compilation of all the fragments of this extensive myth.” ref

Staff God (May relate to Viracocha sky/sun god pre-Inca and Inca mythology?)

“In “Southern Andean Iconographic Series,” the Staff God pose is a religious icon and a standardized pose reminiscent in its way of the standardized poses in Byzantine art. The pose shows a front-facing human or human-like figure with vertical attributes, one in each hand. There is no uniform representation of a “Staff God.” Dozens of variations of “Staff Gods” exist. Some scholars think that some of these personages are possible depictions of Viracocha or Thunupa (the Aymara weather god). However, there is little evidence to support the idea that these front-facing figures do represent deities. Some researchers point to their attributes and spatial organization, which seem to indicate that they are ritual practitioners. Some attributes in their hands were identified as Qirus (Andean ritual cups), Snuff trays (used in ceremonial contexts), and Spear-throwers. The “rays” radiating or sprouting out of the faces of Tiwanaku front-facing figures appear to have approximately the value of an aureole.” ref

“They may represent flows and distribution of energy. At the Wari site of Conchopata a vessel was found which shows a Staff God in which the “rays” can be interpreted as a Anadenanthera colubrina tree sprouting from its head whereas the circular elements do represent its seed pods. The oldest known depiction of a Staff God was found in 2003 on some broken gourd fragments in a burial site in the Pativilca River Valley (Norte Chico region) and carbon dated to 2250 BCE. This makes it the oldest religious icon to be found in the Americas. There are scholars who maintain that the Wari-Tiwanaku Staff God is the forerunner of the Incan principal gods, Sun, Moon, and Thunder. It served as the primary religious icon of the entire Peruvian Andes, particularly during the Early Horizon (900-200 BCE) and beyond. The worship of Staff Gods spread to the Central Andes during the Middle Horizon (600-1000 CE) This is supported by excavated Middle Horizon artifacts that resembled the Staff-God.” ref

“The staff god was a basic iconography shared by the cultures of pre-Columbian Peru, particularly those occupying the northern coast and the southern highlands. This is seen in the stylistic uniformity of the icons and representations, which suggested widespread adherence. There were varying depictions of the Staff-God among these Andean cultures. However, it was often portrayed as a deity in apotheosis, with hands always holding instruments of power. For instance, an artifact found at Chavin de Huantar showed the deity holding a Spondylus and Strombus shells, which were female and male symbols, respectively. This representation indicated how the Staff-God wielded authority to maintain social harmony and the Andean ideal of gender complementarity.” ref

“Another Early Horizon sculpted stone, the Raimondi Stele, is perhaps the most popular representation and depicted the Staff-God as a sky or lightning god plunging down to earth. Representations of the southern highland staff god did not only carry motifs but were also presented with accompanying consorts in the form of deities painted on textiles used to decorate temple walls or ceramic vessels. The Staff God has one of the most important iconographical elements in central Andean archaeology, and this is prominent in both portable and fixed art using different media such as stone, textile, and ceramic.” ref

“A form of the staff god, for example, takes a central role in the Sun Gate of the Tiwanaku culture, a single-stone monolith. Tunics and ceramics from both the Tiwanaku and Wari cultures of the Middle Horizon period showcase a similar god. Another example is the giant offering jars found at Qunchupata. They were painted with the Staff-God’s image, one that bears resemblance to the god’s depiction at the back of the Tiwanaku’s Ponce Monolith.” ref

“Viracocha (also Wiraqocha, Huiracocha; Quechua Wiraqucha) is the great creator deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. According to the myth, Viracocha had the human appearance and was generally considered bearded. The word “Viracocha” literally means “Sea Foam.” According to the myth, he ordered the construction of Tiwanaku. It is also said that he was accompanied by men, also referred to as Viracochas. It is often referred to with several epithets. Such compound names include Ticsi Viracocha (T’iqsi Wiraqocha), Contiti Viracocha, and, occasionally, Kon-Tiki Viracocha (the source of the name of Thor Heyerdahl’s raft). Other designations are “the creator,” Viracochan Pachayachicachan, Viracocha Pachayachachi or Pachayachachic (“teacher of the world”).” ref

“For the Inca the Viracocha cult was more important than the sun cult. Viracocha was the most important deity in the Inca pantheon and was seen as the creator of all things, or the substance from which all things are created, and intimately associated with the sea. Viracocha was immediately followed by Inti, the Sun. Viracocha created the universe, sun, moon, and stars, time (by commanding the sun to move over the sky), and civilization itself. Viracocha was worshipped as god of the sun and of storms. So-called Staff Gods do not all necessarily fit well with the Viracocha interpretation.” ref

“Tiqsi Huiracocha (Spanish:Ticsi Viracocha) may have several meanings. In the Quechuan languages, tiqsi means “origin” or “beginning”, wira means fat, and qucha means lake, sea, or reservoir. Viracocha’s many epithets include great, all knowing, powerful, etc. Some people state that Wiraqucha could mean “Fat (or foam) of the sea,”  etymology that has been discarded for grammatical considerations (constituent order in Quechua) at least since Inca Garcilaso. According to German archeologist Max Uhle, “foam lake” is an incomprehensible name. He points out that Vira (Huira) can also be derived from the Quechua word huyra (“the end of all things”), and that Ticsi Viracocha, therefore, could have the meaning “lake of origin and of the end of all things.” Some linguists think that linguistic, historical and archaeological evidence suggests that the name could be a borrowing of Aymara Wila Quta (wila “blood”; quta “lake”), due to the sacrifices of camelids that were celebrated at Lake Titiqaqa by pre-Incan Andean cultures that spoke Aymara.” ref