Outlines of Zuñi Creation Myths: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1891-1892, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1896, pages 321-448Cushing, Frank Hamilton
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Outlines of Zuñi Creation Myths: Thirteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1891-1892, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1896, pages 321-448
Cushing, Frank Hamilton
Zuni mythology
There remain still a few points in this preliminary paper which must be
commented upon--points regarding my own hand in the work chiefly. I use
very freely such terms as "religious," "sacred," "priest," and "god,"
not because they always express exactly the native meaning, but for the
reason that they do so more approximately than any other terms I could
select. The fearful and mysterious, the magical and occult, all these
and many other elements are usually included in the primitive man's
religion, and hence terms like "sacred" must be given a less restricted
value than they have in our speech or culture.
Again, while the Zuñi word _shíwani_, "priest," literally signifies
guardian and possessor, as well as maker or keeper of the flesh, or
seed of life of the Zuñis, it must not be supposed to represent a
medicine-man, shaman, or sorcerer--for all of which there are specific
differentiated terms in the Zuñi tongue. Those who bear that title are
also divided into four classes, but among all these the functions of
possessing a shrine, being ritualists, performing before the altars,
and leading as well as ordering all organized sacerdotal ceremonials,
is common. Therefore the simple term "priest," in the Pagan rather than
in the Christian sense, is the best and truest that can be found.
Frequently I have occasion to reproduce portions of songs or rituals,
or, again, words of the Uánami or "Beloved Gods." In the originals
these are almost always in faultless blank verse meter, and are often
even grandly poetic. I do not hesitate either to reproduce as nearly as
possible their form, or to tax to the uttermost my power of expression
in rendering the meanings of them where I quote, clear and effective
and in intelligible English. Yet in doing this I do not have to depart
very far from "scientific" accuracy, even in the linguistic sense.
Finally, I have entitled the originative division of this paper
"Outlines of Zuñi Creation Myths," because, in the first place, this
is but a preliminary rendering of these, and, properly speaking, they
are a series of explanation-myths. Now, while such myths are generally
disconnected, often, indeed, somewhat contradictory episode-legends
with primitive peoples, they are, with the Zuñis, already become
serial, and it is in their serial or epic form (but merely in outline)
that I here give them. Although each is called a talk, and is held
specifically by a particular organization or social division, yet all
are called "the speech." This comes about in Zuñi by the presence in
the tribal organization, as already explained, of a class of men and
priests there called the "Midmost," or the "All," because hereditary in
a single clan (the Macaw), yet representative sacerdotally of all the
clans and all the priesthoods, which they out-rank as "Masters of the
House of Houses."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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