Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpback flute palyer who has been venerated by Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States for nearly 1400 years. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is also a trickster god and represents the spirit of music.
Kokopelli may have originally been a representation of ancient Aztec traders , known as
pochtecas, who traveled to the American Southwest from northern Mesoamerican trade centers such as Casas Grandes, and Teotithuican. These traders brought their goods in sacks slung over their backs, and this sack may have evloved into Kokopelli's familiar hump.
In her 1988 book entitled
She Who Remembers, author Linda Lay Shuler attributes the origin of Kokopelli further back in time to the Toltec, the predecessors of the Aztec. She describes Kokopelli as "the traveler, the magician, he of the sacred seed(p.9)." He brought the knowledge of fertility and germination to the ancient ones, the ancient people of the Southwest -- the
Hohokam, and the
Anasazi.
According to Frank Waters, author of
The Book of the Hopi (1963), "Kokopelli" may be derived from the
kachina (spirit) named
Kókopilau, because he looked like wood [
koko --wood;
pilau -- hump], (p.45). In the hump on his back he carried seeds of plants and flowers, and with the music of his flute he created warmth. Another spelling of this Hopi spirit entity is
Kokopeli.
Another theory is that the name "Kokopelli" may be a combination of "Koko", a Hopi and Zuni diety, and "pelli" the Hopi and Zuni word for the desert robber fly, an insect with a prominent proboscis and rounded back.
Worshipped since at least the time of the Ancient Pueblo Peoples, the first known images appear on Hohokam pottery dated sometime between A.D. 705 and A.D. 850 (the time of the Toltecs). The earliest known petroglyph (rock carving) of this figure dates to about A.D. 1000.
In the 1540's, the Spanish conquistadors learned of Kokopelli from the Hopi, a god which had been prominent in their mythology for many generations.
His legend still endures to this day.
In recent years, this humpback flute player has become an important symbol of the Southwestern United States. His image adorns T-shirts, ball caps, wall hangings, jewellry, pottery, and paintings.
I know: I own a number of the above.
A fascinating figure, he gives a glimpse back to the ancient people who lived and thrived in the often inhospitable regions of the American Southwest. His legend transcends time and place, bringing delight and renewal to the people who made him an indespensible part of their lifes.
