Origin Myth of Acoma delves deep into the intricate narratives that have shaped the cultural and spiritual identity of the Acoma Pueblo people.

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A masterpiece of Pueblo Indian mythology, now in a restored edition Edward Proctor Hunt, a Pueblo Indian man, was born in 1861 in the mesa-top village of Acoma, New Mexico, and initiated into several secret societies, only to later break with his people’s social and reli­gious codes. In 1928, he recited his version of the origin myth of the Acoma Indians to Smithsonian Institution scholars. Hailed by many as the most accessible of all epic narratives recounting a classic Pueblo Indian story of creation, migration, and ulti­mate residence, the myth offers a unique window into Pueblo Indian cosmology and ancient history, revealing how a premodern society answered key existential questions and formed its customs. In this new edition, Peter Nabokov renders this important document into a clear sequence, adds excerpted material from the original storytelling sessions, and explores the creation and roles of such myths in Pueblo Indian cultures. The remarkable life of Edward Hunt is the subject of Peter Nabokov’s companion volume, How the World Moves, which follows Hunt and his sons on their passage from tradition to modernity as they strike out as native entrepreneurs and travelling interpreters of American Indian lore.

Excerpt from Origin Myth of Acoma: And Other Records The following information was obtained in September and October of 1928 from a group of Pueblo Indians from Acoma and Santa Ana visiting Washington. The Acoma origin and migration myth is presented as it was learned by the chief informant during his initiation in youth into the Kosh ari, the group of sacred clowns to whom theoretically all religious secrets are divulged. With this myth, according to Acoma ideology, everything in the culture must harmonize. When new practices are adopted, there is an attempt to fit them into the general scheme, although in recounting the tradition, the informant was careful to differentiate between contemporary practice and what was given in the tradition. Frequently after his dictation, when I would question him to bring out concrete instances, he would say, It is not done so any more. The tradition is couched in archaic language so that in many places the younger interpreters were unable to translate and the elderly informant would have to explain in modern Acoma phraseology. This may account in part for certain obvious paraphrases of Pueblo or even of merely Indian ways of speaking. Other paraphrases may have been made for the benefit of the White man or as interpretation of Acoma religion by one who is an exceptionally good Catholic and no longer a participant in the ceremonial life of Acoma. Nevertheless, the rendition does present a coherent picture of the religion in a way not accomplished by the fragments of the Keresan origin myth heretofore recorded. The sequential and comprehensive character of this version has given fresh meaning to various concepts and rituals of Keresan religion. Dr. C. Daryll Forde, who was in Washington at the time, worked with the writer during the recording of the early part of the myth, a section of which was published by him in folk-lore, with my per mission. The complete manuscript was also utilized by Dr. Parsons in her monograph on Pueblo Religion. The illustrations were made in water colors by one of the younger Acoma men, under the direction of the chief informant. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.