| 翻訳と辞書 |
Hopi mythology
The Hopi maintain a complex religious and mythological tradition stretching back over centuries. However, it is difficult to definitively state what all Hopis as a group believe. Like the oral traditions of many other societies, Hopi mythology is not always told consistently and each Hopi mesa, or even each village, may have its own version of a particular story. But, "in essence the variants of the Hopi myth bear marked similarity to one another."〔Christopher Vecsey. ''The Emergence of the Hopi People'', ''in'' American Indian Quarterly, vol. 7, no. 3, American Indian Religions, 70 (Summer 1983).〕 It is also not clear that those stories which are told to non-Hopis, such as anthropologists and ethnographers, represent genuine Hopi beliefs or are merely stories told to the curious while keeping safe the Hopi's more sacred doctrines. As folklorist Harold Courlander states, "there is a Hopi reticence about discussing matters that could be considered ritual secrets or religion-oriented traditions."〔Harold Courlander. The Fourth World of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi Indians as Preserved in their Legends and Traditions, 201 (University of New Mexico Press, 1987)〕 David Roberts continues that "the secrecy that lies at the heart of Puebloan (Hopi ) life...long predates European contact, forming an intrinsic feature of the culture."〔David Roberts. ''The Pueblo Revolt'', 5 (Simon and Schuster, 2004).〕 In addition, the Hopis have always been willing to assimilate foreign ideas into their cosmology if they are proven effective for such practical necessities as bringing rain.〔Susan E. James. ''Some Aspects of the Aztec Religion in the Hopi Kachina Cult'', Journal of the Southwest (2000)〕 As such, the Hopi had at least some contact with Europeans beginning the 16th century, and some believe that European Christian traditions may have entered into Hopi cosmology at some point. Indeed, Spanish missions were built in several Hopi villages starting in 1629 and were in operation until the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. However, after the revolt, it was the Hopi alone of all the Pueblo tribes who kept the Spanish out of their villages permanently, and regular contact with whites did not begin again until nearly two centuries later. The Hopi mesas have therefore been seen as "relatively unacculturated" at least through the early twentieth century, and it may be posited that the European influence on the core themes of Hopi mythology was slight.〔David Roberts. ''The Pueblo Revolt'', 48.〕
==Major deities==
Most Hopi accounts of creation center around Tawa, the Sun Spirit. Tawa is the Creator, and it was he who formed the First World out of Tokpella, or Endless Space, as well as its original inhabitants.〔Harold Coulander. The Fourth World of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi Indians as Preserved in their Legends and Traditions, 17 (University of New Mexico Press, 1987)〕 It is still traditional for Hopi mothers to seek a blessing from the Sun for their newborn children.〔Louise Udall. Me and Mine: The Life Story of Helen Sekaquaptewa, 7 (University of Arizona Press, 1969)〕 However, other accounts have it that Tawa, or Taiowa, first created Sotuknang, whom he called his nephew. Taiowa then sent Sotuknang to create the nine universes according to his plan, and it was Sotuknang who created Spider Woman, or Spider Grandmother.〔Frank Waters. The Book of the Hopi, 3-5 (Penguin Books, 1963).〕 Spider Woman served as a messenger for the Creator and was an intercessor between deity and the people. In some versions of the Hopi creation myth, it is she who creates all life under the direction of Sotuknang.〔 Yet other stories tell that life was created by Hard Being Woman of the West and Hard Being Woman of the East, while the Sun merely observed the process.〔H.R. Voth. ''The Traditions of the Hopi'', 1 (Chicago, 1905)〕〔Harold Courlander explains that this version of the story is an attempt to amalgamate two conflicting Hopi traditions dealing with two female deities, Spider Grandmother and Huruing Wuhti (Hard Being Woman). Spider Grandmother has a central role or myths where the Hopi arrive in the Fourth World via the sipapu, whereas Hard Being Woman is related to Hopi legends that they arrived in the Fourth World by boat. ''The Fourth World of the Hopi'', 205.〕
Masauwu, Skeleton Man, was the Spirit of Death, Earth God, door keeper to the Fifth World, and the Keeper of Fire. He was also the Master of the Upper World, or the Fourth World, and was there when the good people escaped the wickedness of the Third World for the promise of the Fourth.〔Harold Coulander. The Fourth World of the Hopis, 22.〕 Masauwu is described as wearing a hideous mask, but again showing the diversity of myths among the Hopi, Masauwu was alternately described as a handsome, bejeweled man beneath his mask or as a bloody, fearsome creature. However, he is also assigned certain benevolent attributes.〔Hamilton A. Tyler. ''Pueblo Gods and Myths'', 5-7 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1964)〕 One story has it that it was Masauwu who helped settle the Hopi at Oraibi and gave them stewardship over the land. He also charged them to watch for the coming of the Pahana (see section below), the Lost White Brother.〔Dan Kotchongva. ''Where is the White Brother of the Hopi Indian?'', ''in'' Improvement Era (1936).〕 Other important deities include the twin war gods, the kachinas, and the trickster Coyote.
Maize is also vital to Hopi subsistence and religion. “For traditional Hopis, corn is the central bond. Its essence, physically, spiritually, and symbolically, pervades their existence. For the people of the mesas corn is sustenance, ceremonial object, prayer offering, symbol, and sentient being unto itself. Corn is the Mother in the truest sense that people take in the corn and the corn becomes their flesh, as mother milk becomes the flesh of the child."〔Dennis Wall and Virgil Masayesva, "People of the Corn: Teachings in Hopi Traditional Agriculture, Spirituality, and Sustainability", ''American Indian Quarterly'', Summer/Fall 2004, pages 435–453.〕
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
■ウィキペディアで「Hopi mythology」の詳細全文を読む
スポンサード リンク
| 翻訳と辞書 : 翻訳のためのインターネットリソース |
Copyright(C) kotoba.ne.jp 1997-2016. All Rights Reserved.
|
|