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Hopi mythology
Articles about Hopi mythology within North America.
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Koyemshi
Koyemshi are sacred clown figures associated with Hopi ceremonial life in northern Arizona. They are best known in English as the Mudheads, a name referring to their distinctive clay- or mud-covered masks. Rather than be…
Kwikwilyaqa
Kwikwilyaqa is a Hopi katsina associated in many English-language descriptions with the butterfly. The name is often translated or explained as “Butterfly Maiden,” although translations of Hopi religious names are not al…
Mana
Mana is a name that appears in some English-language lists and discussions of Hopi katsinam, the spirit beings represented in Hopi ceremonial dances and carved figures. Its identification is not as firmly documented as t…
Momo
Momo is a name sometimes presented in modern reference material as belonging to Hopi mythology, but it does not identify a single, consistently documented figure across the best-known accounts of Hopi religious tradition…
Nataska
Nataska is an ogre-like figure in Hopi katsina tradition, associated especially with public ceremonial performances connected with discipline, social teaching and the seasonal religious cycle. English-language sources of…
Palhik Mana
Palhik Mana is a female katsina of Hopi religious tradition, commonly known in English as the Butterfly Maiden. She is associated with butterflies, beauty, seasonal renewal, young people and, in many modern descriptions,…
Payatamu
Payatamu is a figure associated with Hopi religious tradition, especially with flute playing, music, seasonal growth and the ceremonial renewal of life. The name is also written Paiyatamu and in other variant forms. In m…
Sotuknang
Sotuknang is a powerful being in accounts of Hopi cosmology, where he appears as an agent of the creator Taiowa and an organizer of the universe. He is especially associated with the creation and ordering of the worlds, …