The Hopi Emergence Myth tells how humanity climbed upward through a series of earlier, flawed worlds, driven out of each in turn by wrongdoing and disorder, before emerging into the present Fourth World through a hole in the earth called the sipapu. The Hopi hold that the site of emergence lies within the Grand Canyon, and every kiva, the ceremonial chamber central to Hopi religious life, contains its own small sipapu in the floor, a permanent architectural reminder of the emergence story at the center of Hopi cosmology and ritual.
Facts
History
Historical NoteSourced to the subject's own accountThe Hopi identify the physical place of emergence as the Sipapuni, a spring built travertine dome in the Little Colorado River gorge near its confluence with the Colorado River inside the Grand Canyon; the site lies along the historic Hopi Salt Trail, once travelled by male initiates gathering salt as a rite of passage, and is visited today only by sanctioned Hopi pilgrims. 2 Controversy
Point in DisputeThe anthropologist Peter Whiteley and other scholars have challenged the Book of the Hopi's methods and the authority of its stated Hopi sources, and Hopi communities have objected publicly and repeatedly to the book since its publication, objections that have since shaped how later researchers work with Hopi religious material. 3 Meaning
Central MotifSourced to the subject's own accountHumanity is driven upward through a series of flawed prior worlds, emerging into the present world through a hole in the earth. 1 Text
Source TextSourced to the subject's own accountThe most widely read modern account is Frank Waters' 1963 Book of the Hopi, compiled with the Hopi artist Oswald White Bear Fredericks from testimony gathered from a group of Hopi elders. 1 Connections
Associated With
Hopi, Cultures The Hopi hold that the site of emergence lies within the Grand Canyon, central to Hopi cosmology.
Source Book of the HopiFrank Waters, with Oswald "White Bear" Fredericks
Belongs to Tradition
Source Book of the HopiFrank Waters, with Oswald "White Bear" Fredericks
Originated In
Source Book of the HopiFrank Waters, with Oswald "White Bear" Fredericks
Related To
Sources
1. Book of the Hopi
Frank Waters, with Oswald "White Bear" Fredericks, Viking Press, 1963- on the Hopi emergence narrative and the sipapu
- Originated In: North America
2. Hopi Connections to the Little Colorado River
Sarana Riggs, Grand Canyon Trust, Grand Canyon Trust, 2022Lyle Balenquah on the sipapuni and the Hopi emergence narrative, Grand Canyon Trust blogQuote, Lyle Balenquah on the sipapuni and the Hopi emergence narrative, Grand Canyon Trust blog
That emergence point symbolizes our coming from a previous world into this world seeking a new way of life.
3. Rethinking Hopi Ethnography
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