As a collector, you likely feel drawn to categories of objects such as Navajo
weavings, Hopi Pueblo kachina masked dancing cult dolls, Puebloan pottery, Native
American jewelry, fine beadwork, Zuni Pueblo fetishes, regional paintings or
antique firearms, but you may also find stimulating challenges in putting together
a diverse collection that revolves around, not a category, but rather a broad
topic such as Native American symbolism, early ranch life, the frontier woman’s
life, the gold miner’s quixotic ventures, the saddle maker’s craft,
or early health care.
If you have felt the lure of the prehistory and history of the Native Americans
of the Southwest, you might discover a passion for collecting those things that
relate to mystical icons. You may find unexpected opportunities for adventure
and discovery in exploring ancient sequestered galleries of rock art, Puebloan
chambers of community celebration and ritual, museums with prehistoric pottery
exhibits, and markets with modern Native American arts and crafts.
You will soon see that the icons of the Native Americans offer tantalizing – and
mysterious – clues to their world views, mysticism, cultural interchanges
and mythology. The sheer diversity and number of images point to labyrinthine
complexity and long-term evolution of spiritual belief and ritual. Some – for
instance, the plumed serpent, the outlined cross, the storm god, the Thunderbird,
the hump-backed flute player and many others – reflect millennia-old threads
of religious and philosophical beliefs that span the deserts of the Southwest,
much of Mexico and even regions in South America.
The Plumed Serpent
The plumed serpent, portrayed with a feathered crest and sometimes
with either a wolf-like or a hooked nose, symbolized Quetzalcoatl, a deity who
emerged among the great city states of Mesoamerica – that is, southern
Mexico and northern Central America – some 2000 years ago. His depictions,
names, character, religious roles and spiritual associations evolved and changed
among cultures and through time. In many incarnations, however, Quetzalcoatl
appeared as a benevolent god born of a virgin mother. He rescued humankind from
the netherworld by dripping his blood onto the bones of men, women and children,
giving them renewed life. According to the Aztec Gods & Goddesses Internet
site, “He taught men
science and the calendar and devised ceremonies. He discovered corn, and all
good aspects of civilization. Quetzalcoatl is a perfect representation of saintliness.” Lord
of hope, healing and the planet Venus, he glorified learning, arts, poetry and
thought—“all things good and beautiful.”
Quetzalcoatl became “a god of such importance and power that nearly no
aspect of everyday life seemed to go untouched by him.” Presided over
by the planet Venus – the sacred evening and morning star – Quetzalcoatl’s
priests beat their drums at twilight and dawn to separate daylight and darkness.
His plumed serpent symbol represents a visualization of the name, Quetzalcoatl,
which combines the terms for the quetzal bird, a magnificently colored tropical
species with three-foot-long tail feathers, and the coatl, the mythical serpent
of storm clouds and lightening. His symbol and its derivatives, which appear
on the rock art and ceramics of the prehistoric Southwestern desert, signify
the extent of his spiritual reach outward from Mesoamerica. As it moved northward,
his imprint varied with time, distance and cultural differences, apparently evolving
from images of true plumed serpents to plumed and horned serpents to horned serpents
(some with the horn pointing forwards over the head, others with the horn pointing
backwards away from the head). As suggested by authority Kay Sutherland, his
image’s evolution from plumed to horned serpent may have represented his
transformation from a deity of Mesoamerican city states to a deity of desert
hunting peoples.
Quetzalcoatl, in symbolic form, still endures. In Mexico, for example, his
image appears in department store windows at Christmastime, sometimes displacing
the traditional Santa Claus figures.
The Outlined Cross
An outlined cross – or, more accurately, an outlined “plus” sign – stood
as perhaps the most common of many icons for Venus, the sacred body that the
Mayans associated with Quetzalcoatl. It symbolized the religious importance of
the planet and its eight-year cyclic passageway through the night sky. It spoke
to Venus’ role in prophesy, human sacrifice and warfare.
“The planet Venus was particularly significant to the Maya. . . ” according
to the Civilization Internet site. “The Dresden Codex, one of four surviving
Maya chronicles, contains an extensive tabulation of the appearances of Venus,
and was used to predict the future. The Maya also went to war by the sky. . .
triggered by the planet Venus. Venus war regalia is seen on stelae and other
carvings, and raids and captures were timed by appearances of Venus, particularly
as an evening ‘star.’ Warfare related to the movements of Venus
was, in fact, well established throughout Mesoamerica.
“Maya calendars, mythology and astrology were integrated into a single
system of belief. The Maya observed the sky and calendars to predict solar and
lunar eclipses, the cycles of the planet Venus, and the movements of the constellations.
These occurrences were far more than mere mechanical movements of the heavens,
and were believed to be the activities of gods replaying mythical events from
the time of Creation.” Symbols of Venus embellish the facades of the monumental
architecture of Mesoamerica.
While various prehistoric Venus symbols radiate from Mesoamerica into Central
America, South America and the desert Southwest, the outlined cross is the one
that occurs most commonly, according to Domingo Sanchez, “The Mesoamerican
Venus Symbol In Venezuelan Rock Art,” KACIKE: Journal
of Caribbean Amerindian History and Anthropology. In the Southwest, it appears in prehistoric rock art
and ceramics and even in modern Native American kachina masks.
The Storm God
The Mesoamerican storm god – a goggle-eyed snarling image often
called “Tlaloc” – ruled
the heavenly paradise of Tlacocan. He held command over rain, lightning and thunder
as well as fertility. Although generally regarded as a benevolent deity, according
to the All About History Internet site, he also instilled terror among the people.
If angered, he inflicted destructive storms, hurled thunderous lightning bolts,
and imposed disastrous drought. He demanded homage.
Especially revered among the Aztecs, Tlaloc ranked so highly that he warranted
the construction of a temple in their ancient city of Tenochtitlan (within today’s
Mexico City) and the elaborate decoration of his images at their monuments of
the state. According to the Aztec Gods & Goddesses Internet site, he controlled
access to Tlacocan, the heavenly paradise. He took pleasure, apparently, watching
his priests plunge into frigid lake waters at the hour of midnight, thrashing
and splashing like water birds until they grew exhausted. Tlaloc accepted homage
in way of the sacrifice of human beings, especially children, whose tears he
accepted as the price for delivering rain to the fields, the more tears the more
rain. His priests tortured sacrificial children to induce more crying – and
more tears, all reverently collected in ceremonial bowls – while parents
took pride in their children who had been selected for the fatal honor.
In heavenly messages to the Aztecs, Tlaloc sent spring rains symbolized by
the color gold from the east, signifying seasonal nourishment and renewed life.
He sent summer rains marked by green from the south, reinforcing fertility. He
sent fall rains, in the red of a sunset, from the west, signifying autumn and
the retreating sun. He sent powerful winter thunderstorms from the north, bearing
snow and hail that, according to Mesoamerican beliefs, embodied bones of the
dead.
Tlaloc found his way, significantly modified, into the prehistoric and historic
Native American peoples of the Southwestern deserts, where his control of rainfall
and water would, apparently, have held supreme importance. His images appear
on the surfaces of prehistoric rocks and pottery. His goggle eyes and snarling
mouth appear on the faces of prehistoric and modern kachina masks. Sometimes,
only goggle eyes appear, presumably a kind of widely understood shorthand symbol
for Tlaloc. He may have been a forerunner to the Kachinas, whose masks often
feature goggle eyes and snarling mouths. He may still assert his presence in
modern jewelry, clothing designs and paintings.
Thunderbird
A monstrous, winged predator – labeled “Thunderbird” in the
deserts of the Southwest and in other parts of the Americas – played stirring
roles in the myths of peoples worldwide. It produced thunder from its wings and
issued lightening from its beak. It raised and shaped landforms. It created mankind.
It symbolized Native American “heaven.” It enforced ritual. It fed
on men, women and children as well as large animals and even killer whales, littering
the floor of its lair with the bones of its prey.
In the Sonoran Desert, a Thunderbird, which lived in a mountainous cave,
preyed on the Pima Indians, according to a story in the True Authority Internet
site. It died at the hands of Pima braves, who found the cave and blocked and
fired the exit. The Thunderbird, roaring in a maddened anger, perished in the
flames and smoke. Another Thunderbird died in a similar trap set by Pima Indians
at a Puebloan village in southern Arizona. Still another fell to the arrows of
a young Yaqui Indian boy, who had lost his entire family to the great predator.
In northeastern New Mexico, said Mark A. Hall in his book Thunderbirds:
America’s
Living Legends of Giant Birds, a Thunderbird stood guard over the Capulin volcanic
crater. It died when attacked by an Indian warrior. In revenge, its spirit called
the volcano to life, threatening to annihilate the warrior’s people. Appeased
when the warrior’s brother sacrificed himself by leaping into the boiling
lava, the Thunderbird returned the volcano to calm.
In far west Texas, on the western flanks of the Franklin Mountains, a Thunderbird
survived attacks of Indians, who nevertheless managed to imprison it alive in
its cave, according to Ken Hudnall and Connie Wang in their Spirits
of the Border: the History and Mystery of El Paso del Norte. “Woe be unto him who frees
the Thunderbird, for he will be responsible for death and destruction far beyond
anything mankind has yet experienced.” On the western side of Thunderbird
Peak, its presence is still marked, by a large red rhyolite formation shaped
like a Thunderbird, “guarding the desert landscape, wings outstretched,
head turned to the side, an immense, mythical silhouette. . . ”
The Thunderbird made its mark in Navajo mythology when it carried a warrior
to a ledge at the top of the sacred Winged Rock (Ship Rock, located in northwestern
New Mexico), said Hall. It appeared in Pueblo mythology as a great bird with “feathers
like knives. . . ”
The Thunderbird takes on many forms in the rock art of the Southwest, but
it typically bears a resemblance to the bald eagle on the Great Seal of the United
States of America.
Humped Back Flute Player
The humped back flute player, commonly known as “Kokopelli,” a Hopi
Pueblo word, appears in various forms in rock art and ceramics from Peru northward
to Utah, said Michael Claypool, an authority who taught at Fort Lewis College
in Durango, Colorado. Classically, Kokopelli appeared as an arched-back man playing
a long flute, but depending on his location, cultural affiliation and time, he
may have taken on the guise of an elaborately costumed performer, a spare stick
figure, a humped back rabbit, a flute-playing mountain sheep, an insect or numerous
other forms. In some locations, he has a bird for a head.
A revered figure among the prehistoric Native Americans of the desert Southwest,
Kokopelli played his flute for ceremonial dances. Sometimes appearing with just
a hump, other times with just a flute, he took part in tribal rituals. He may
have offered explanations for tribal myths. He petitioned the skies for rain.
He invoked magic for hunting success. He impregnated women of the people. He
helped deliver babies for the women. He led processions, perhaps migrations,
of communities. He seems to have been charged with ensuring fertility for the
people and their crops and good fortune in their undertakings. Occasionally,
he appears in multiples, presumably redoubling chances for success.
Perhaps the most charismatic of the deities of the Southwest, Kokopelli appears
today in ceramics, jewelry, metal arts, advertising campaigns, place mats, heating
pads and even T-shirts and caps.
A Few Other Mythological Icons
In addition to Quetzalcoatl, the outlined cross, Tlaloc, the Thunderbird and
Kokopelli, many other icons serve as important – and often poorly understood – roles
in the prehistory of the desert Southwest. Rock art bear tracks, for one example,
sometimes with elaborate decoration, other times with simple outlines, may have
functioned as clan symbols or, possibly, territorial markers. Collared jaguars,
controversial images distinguished by a tail folded over the back and a band
around the neck, could indicate Mesoamerican origins or Puebloan clan roots.
Black-tailed jackrabbit images recall Mesoamericans’ beliefs that they
saw, not a man in the moon, but a rabbit in the moon. Images of macaws – tropical
birds with parrot-like beaks and long tails – imply possible mercantile
or religious relationships with Mesoamerican traders or missionary figures. Elaborately
and precisely scribed geometric images point to sophisticated prehistoric designers.
Complex mask images, apparently incorporating Mesoamerican design motifs, suggest
connections with the great city states to the south.
Still other icons – for example, dual figures, skeletons, animals, fish,
mythical creatures, cloud formations, spirals, concentric circles, zigzag lines,
and many others on stone and ceramic surfaces and ceremonial chamber walls – offer
clear evidence of the overarching spiritual life of the prehistoric people of
the Southwest.
Building a Collection
Should you choose to pursue a topic or a theme such as the prehistoric Southwest’s
mystical icons, you will likely embark on an unending adventure through rock
art sites, prehistoric ruins and museum collections, gathering the knowledge
and insights that will give added dimension to your collection. With good documentation,
you might put together a collection of photographs that would hold value for
researchers. You can explore the Indian markets, specialty retail stores, trading
posts and individual Indian merchants, knowing that you could find treasures
in the form of jewelry, fabrics, ceramics, metal cutouts or other medium bearing
images in your area of interest.
However you pursue a collection under the umbrella of a topic or theme, you
can count on an experience in discovery.
