The Alósaka cult of the Hopi IndiansFewkes, Jesse Walter
Religion
The Alósaka cult of the Hopi Indians
Fewkes, Jesse Walter
Hopi Indians -- Religion
It would seem from all these stories that the _Alósaka_ cult was
vigorous in Awatobi, the ill-fated pueblo where the zealous Padre
Porras lost his life in 1633, and that it was of southern origin,
having been introduced into Awatobi by one of the phratries from the
south which lived in the now ruined pueblos on the Little Colorado. The
most complicated survival of the _Alósaka_ cultus is to be expected
in the Middle Mesa pueblos, because the phratry which introduced it
founded some of these pueblos[30] and still survives there. The result
of an examination of many _Alósaka_ myths would seem to be a conclusion
that he is a cultus hero of clans which came from the south.
Totemic Aspect of Alósaka
The _Alósaka_ cult may be regarded as another form of that totemic
ancestor worship which appears in all Hopi mythology and ritual. The
male and female _Alósakas_ are supposed to be ancestors of a cult
society called the _Aaltû_, and are represented symbolically in the
ritual by graven images, pictures, or personations by men. The name
_Alósaka_ is simply a sacerdotal name used in this society, but it is
applied to a similar conception found in the worship of other societies
under other names.
In the Snake-Antelope societies of the Hopi the male and female parents
are called _Tcüa-tiyo_ (Snake-youth) and _Tcüa-mana_ (Snake-maid),
which beings are personated in the secret exercises of the Snake dance
by a boy and a girl appropriately clothed.
In the Flute ceremony the cult society ancestors are called the
_Leñya-tiyo_ (Flute-youth) and _Leñya-mana_ (Flute-maid), who are
represented symbolically by images on the altars and by a boy and two
girls in the public exhibition.
In the _Lalakonti_ ceremony these two ancestral personages are
represented in a symbolic way by images on the altar and by sand
pictures on the floor, and by a man and two girls in the public
dance. These personages are called by the _Lalakonti_ society the
_Lakone-taka_ and the _Lakone-manas_ respectively.
In the _Mamzrautû_ society they are called the _Marau-taka_ and
the _Marau-manas_, and are symbolically represented on the altar
by figurines and in the public dance by a boy and a maid called
the _Palahiko-mana_ whose headdress with symbolic clouds and
squash blossoms so closely resembles that of _Calako-mana_, or the
Corn-maid,[31] that it is difficult to distinguish the two.
In the great _katcina_ cult these two personages are called
_Anwucnoshotaka_ and _Hahaiwuqti_, or “Man of all the Crow clans,” and
“Mother of _katcinas_,” respectively; but as this cult is very complex
in the East Mesa towns, and is celebrated by many amalgamated cult
societies, there are various other names for these two ancestors.
It is instructive to consider somewhat more in detail this aspect of
the Hopi _katcina_ cult in the two great characteristic festivals
called _Powamû_ and _Nimán_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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