the humpbacked flute player commonly called Kokopelli has been
transformed into one of the most recognizable commercial icons of the
American Southwest.
Popular folklore often describes Kokopelli as a
symbol of fertility, his back laden with seeds that he will scatter
each spring after playing his flute and singing songs to make the
ground more fertile.
But members of the Hopi Flute Clan say the flute
player with the hunched back depicted in rock art across the Southwest
and throughout the world actually represents their clan deity Flute
Player; or his helper, Maahu, also called the cicada, or sometimes an
individual in Flute Clan traditions known as Lelentiyo.
The Hopi Flute Player is a benevolent being who
plays his flute for the benefit of all mankind, members of the Flute
Clan from Walpi at First Mesa in Arizona explained during a recent
lecture to open a new year long exhibit at Anasazi State Park Museum in
Boulder.
“The cicada carries all his seeds on his back. He
plants his seeds and plays the flute to warm the earth to accept them,”
said Clay Hamilton, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office.
“The reason why a Kokopelli man is interpreted as a flute player is
because he carries his wares on his back, so it makes him look like a
humpback. That’s probably where some of the confusion comes in. But the
two are very different.”
In Hopi teachings, Kokopelli – a corruption of the
Hopi word Kookopoli – is a troublemaker, a lecherous and promiscuous
figure who traveled from village to village as a trader, carrying his
merchandise in a sack on his back. Hopi legend holds that as the
villagers gathered to see his goods, Kookopoli would entrance them with
flute music then perform lewd acts upon the some of the village women.
The exhibit, developed with the help of Hopi Flute
Clan members, uses a variety of rock art images, and text based on the
teachings of the Hopi to explain the importance of the Hopi Flute
Player, and to detail the distinction between the flute player and
Kokopelli.
“It’s probably going to take some time for people to
really understand and accept that the Flute Player and Kokopelli are
not the same image,” said Anasazi State Park manager Mike Nelson. “This
exhibit is a really important first step in that process.” Today, the Hopi sometimes depict Kookopoli in the
form of a Katsina – a carved sculpture – called Kokopelli. The
characters of Kookopoli and the female version Kokopolmana are often
seen during Hopi spring and summer dances meandering through the
village feigning lewd acts, usually in the company of a clown figure
who taunts Kokopolmana, while resisting her advances.
“They’re used to teach the people about the dangers
of promiscuity,” said Leroy Lewis, a member of the Flute Clan who
served as a consultant for the exhibit. “According to stories from some
South American cultures, this guy had a humpback and a handful of seeds
and he was a Romeo. When Kokopolmana or Kookopoli appear in our dances,
they are there to teach lessons that have been handed down from
generation to generation.”
Those depictions may have contributed to the
erroneous view of Kokopelli as a fertility figure, Hamilton said.
Many rock art panels in southern Utah contain images
described as Kokopelli in books and photographs. But Hamilton said the
vast majority of those drawings appear to be the Hopi Flute Player.
Members of the Hopi Flute Clan visited one rock art site near Escalante
and they are convinced that Hopi ancestors painted the Flute Player
image to help document the clan’s migration toward their current
Arizona home thousands of years ago.
But some rock art images do depict Kokopelli,
Hamilton said, and the icon can be distinguished from the Flute Player
because he is typically shown carrying a pole or walking stick rather
than playing a flute.
The Anasazi State Park exhibit includes a photograph
of Kokopelli rock art created by the Mimbres culture of southern New
Mexico.
The exhibit is the most recent culmination of an
ongoing collaboration between Utah State Parks and Hopi clan leaders.
The partnership represents a new approach to managing and preserving
the artifacts and structures of ancient Indian cultures, said Tim
Smith, southeast region manager for Utah State Parks.
“We’ve been working together to improve the accuracy
of the information in our exhibits and other information provided in
the parks,” Smith said. “What we’ve learned over the past several years
has been invaluable. It’s really changed the way we see these cultural
resources.”
Hamilton believes the new exhibit will encourage
dialogue and improve visitors’ understanding of the Hopi culture.
“Hopefully, they’ll start using the appropriate
term,” he said. “When people see that image, they’ll say ‘Oh, that’s
the humpback flute player,” instead of thinking of it as Kokopelli.”
About the exhibit: “Kokopelli or Flute Player?” is
on display at the main exhibit hall of Anasazi State Park Museum.The
park is located at 460 North Highway 12 in Boulder, Utah. For more
information, call (435) 335-7308.
© 2005 Lisa J. Church