Manataka American Indian Council
Yaponcha - The Wind God
A
Hopi Story
Long, long ago, the Hopis were greatly troubled by the wind. It blew and blew
and blew and blew -- all the time. T he Hopis planted their crops, but before the
seeds could begin to sprout, the wind blew the soil and seeds away. Unhappy and
worried, all the people made prayer offerings of many kinds. But they
accomplished nothing.
The old men held councils in their kivas. They smoked their pipes prayerfully
and asked one another, "Why do the gods turn such strong winds upon
us?" After a while, they decided to ask for help from the "Little
Fellows" who were the two little War Gods, two of the five grandsons of
Spider Woman.
"Why did you ask us to come?" was their first question.
"We need your help," answered the old men. "Something must be
done to the Wind."
"We will see what we can do for you," said the Little Fellows. "You stay here and make many more prayer offerings."
The Hopis make many kinds of prayer offerings--as many as there are prayers, and
there are prayers for every occasion in life and death. They are reverently
fashioned of various types of feathers, carved and painted sticks, and hand-spun
cotton yarn.
The Little Fellows went first to their wise old grandmother, Spider Woman.
They
asked her to make some sweet cornmeal mush for them to take along on a journey.
Of course they knew who the Wind God was and knew that he lived over near Sunset
Mountain in the big crack of the black rock.
When Spider Woman had the cornmeal mush ready, the Little Fellows came back to
the kiva where the men were holding their council. The prayer offerings were
ready and also the ball that the Little Fellows like to take with them wherever
they went. They liked to play catch with it.
The men made bows and arrows for them to take on their journey which seemed much
like going on a war party. The arrows were tipped with bluebird feathers,
thought to be more powerful than any other kinds of feathers.
The two Little Fellows started toward the San Francisco Peaks. The old men went
along until they reached the Little Colorado River, and there they sat down and
smoked their pipes. The smoking of tobacco among the Hopis, as among many other
tribes, is strictly ceremonial. The sacred smoke carried the prayers of the
Hopis to their Gods.
Continuing their journey, the two Little Fellows played catch-ball from time to
time. On the fourth day they reached the home of the Wind God who lived at the
foot of Sunset Crater, in a big crack in the black rock. There he breathed
through the crack, as he does to this day. The Little Fellows threw the prayer
offerings into the crack and hastily put their old grandmother's sticky cornmeal
mush into and over the crack, and thus sealed the Wind God's door. Phew --
he
became very angry, so angry that he blew and blew and blew, but could not get
out. The Little Fellows laughed and laughed and then went home, feeling very
proud of them selves and of what they had done.
But after a while, the people in the villages began to feel very hot. Every day
the weather became hotter and hotter. People came out of their homes and stood
on housetops to look toward the San Francisco Peaks, to see if any clouds were
coming their way. But they did not see even a wisp of a cloud, and they seemed
not to feel a breath of air. They thought they would suffocate.
"We must do something right away," everyone said or thought. So the
men made some more prayer offerings and called the two Little Fellows again.
"Please go back to the House of the Wind God at once and tell him that
there must be peace between us. Then give him these prayer offerings and let him
out. This heat is much worse than the wind."
The Little Fellows replied, "We will go and see what we can do with the
Wind God to make life more comfortable for you."
After four days, they arrived at the House of Yaponcha -- the House of the Wind
God. The Little Fellows decided that the wisest thing to do would be to let the
Wind God have a small hole open -- just enough to let him breathe through but not
enough for him to come out of the crack in the black rock.
o they took a little of the cornmeal mush out of the crack. Immediately, a nice
cool breeze came out and a small white cloud appeared. It floated over across
the desert toward the Hopi villages.
When the Little Fellows reached home, everyone was pleased. The Hopis have been
grateful to the Little Fellows ever since. The winds have been perfect --
just
strong enough to keep the people happy but not strong enough to blow everything
away.
Every since then, every year in the windy month of March, the chiefs and the
high priests of the three villages on the Second Mesa give prayer offerings to
the Wind God, Yaponcha.
From the Archives of Glenn Welker
Submitted by Blue Panther blue_panther@mindspring.com