The Mythology Book

238

M

any of the southwestern

tribes of the United

States, such as the Hopi,

the Keres, the Choctaw, and the

Navajo, all share similar creation

myths explaining how the first

humans came to be. The Hopi

creation myth states that in the

beginning, all that existed was

water. It hung between the realm

above—the skies—and the realm

below, which would become

the earth. Tawa, the Sun Father,

controlled everything above, and

Spider Woman, the Earth Mother,

ruled below.

Creating nature

Spider Woman, also known as

“Thinking Woman,” or “Spider

Grandmother,” was a creator

goddess, said to be as old as time,

yet as young as eternity. To the

Navajo, Spider Woman is also a

teacher who gave the sacred art of

weaving to humanity. The Hopi

refer to the creator goddess as

Kokyangwuti in their language, but

also revere the Spider Grandmother

as Gogyeng Sowuhti, a spirit of

wisdom and medicine. She dwells

in the Underworld, which the Hopi

see as a place from which all life is

born and must emerge.

Creating nature

According to the Hopi, Tawa and

the Earth Mother worked together

to create the world. Gazing at the

Spider Rock is a stone spire 830 feet

(250 m) tall formed 230 million years

ago in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona.

It is traditionally regarded as the

lair of Spider Woman.

WEAVER OF

LIFE I AM

SPIDER WOMAN

IN BRIEF

THEME

Creation

SOURCE

Oral tradition, recorded in

Spider Woman Stories, G. M.

Mullett, 1979; A Dictionary of

Creation Myths, David Adams

Leeming and Margaret

Adams Leeming, 1995.

SETTING

The beginning of time; the

southwestern United States.

KEY FIGURES

Tawa The Sun Father;

a creator god.

Spider Woman The Earth

Mother; a creator goddess.

US_238-239_Thinking-Woman.indd 238 06/12/17 3:01 pm

THE AMERICAS 239

Spider Woman carries a cross,

symbolizing fire, on this Mississipian

shell disc (c.1000 ce). The Choctaw

believe fire was gifted to humans by

Spider Woman after animals refused it.

See also: Cherokee creation 236–37 ■ The Woge settle a dispute 240–41 ■ The raven and the whale 242–43

empty sky, Spider Woman spun a

huge web, laced it with dew, and

threw it out into the sky, creating

stars above. Then Tawa and Spider

Woman decided to populate the

earth with animals.

Tawa dreamed of birds flying

and fish swimming in the waters,

and Spider Woman formed these

animals one by one out of clay.

They lay still until she covered

them in a blanket she had woven.

As she murmured over them,

the creatures stirred, and Spider

Woman gave each a spirit.

Tawa and Spider Woman then

decided to create humans to care

for the animals. Again, Spider

Woman fashioned these new

beings from clay, and she and

Tawa laid the blanket over them.

This time, however, they did not

move, so, gathering them in her

arms, she and Tawa sang until

the humans came to life. Tawa

would bring light to shine upon

them each day and rain would

fall. The Sun Father and the Earth

Mother now decided that they had

fulfilled their roles and would not

create any more beings, instead

allowing them to multiply.

Parting guidance

Spider Woman divided the growing

people into tribes, giving them

their names and languages. The

Hopi, Zuni, Ute, Comanche, and

Pueblo people were led from the

Underworld by Spider Woman.

Navajo weaving

While many historians believe

that the Navajo learned the art

of weaving from the Pueblos,

Navajo mythology teaches that

Spider Woman brought spinning

and weaving to the tribe,

sharing her knowledge with the

people. According to the Navajo,

Spider Woman’s son made the

first spindles from lightning and

the first loom from the sun, sky,

and earth.

Weaving blankets and rugs

remains a valuable source of

income for the Navajo, but it

is also central to their holistic

spirituality, which makes no

distinction between art and daily

life. Through example and their

stories, elders still teach this

worldview today.

Young weavers hear the myth

of the art’s origins at the same

time as they begin to learn the

process. Before they start, elders

instruct them to find a spider web

in the early morning, still sparkling

with dew, and to place their palm

on the web without destroying

it. In this way, their spirits can

receive Spider Woman’s sacred

gift of weaving.

When they reached the surface,

Spider Woman showed her people

the power of the soil, running it

through her hands and teaching

them about growing food. She said

that crops would flourish in their

lands because Tawa would shine

his light and rain would fall. Spider

Woman then returned to the

Underworld, promising the people

that she and Tawa would always

watch over their creations. ■

Together the first gods

placed a sacred blanket over

the new beings and chanted

the song of life. The beings

stirred into life.

A Dictionary of

Creation Myths

US_238-239_Thinking-Woman.indd 239 05/12/17 4:16 pm