T
HE WORT ANCE OF MYTHOloc;y
in contemporary
to people both in the past and
societies has been elegantly described by
Joseph Campbell (1988) in his popular book The Power
of Myth. More specifically, Native American culture is rich in
mythology including numerous examples of animals as mythological
figures. Powerful animal gods such as the plumed serpent, Quetzalcoati, of Central America and the Thunderbird of the North American plains are prime examples. Large mammals such as the bear,
buffalo, jaguar, and wolf also frequently are assigned mythological
properties by various Native American cultures. However, although
lesser known, insects also occur frequently in Native American
mythology in roles ranging from trivial to cosmology. This is especially true of Native Americans inhabiting tropical areas, probably
because of the richness of insects in their surroundings (Hogue 1987).
In her fascinating book, Insect Fact and Folklore, L. W. Clausen
(1954) noted several examples of Coleopterans in Native American
mythology. According to a myth of the Cherokee of the southeastern
United States, a diving beetle of the family Dytiscidae played an
important part in the creation of the world by bringing up the first
earth when the world was entirely covered with water. In another
Cherokee myth, the behavior of grubs (larvae) of the green June
beetle, Cotinus nitida (L.) is explained. Acting as Chief of a council
meeting, " Grubworm " became so amused at a suggestion that he
Opposite: Butterflies are
personified in spirit as Hopi
kachina figures. The figure shown
is Po/i- Taka or Butterfly Man.
Photographed by Bruce Elkind.
16
shouted with glee and fell over backwards in his excitement. When
Grubworm tried to get to his feet he could not and had to wriggle off
on his head. Hence, today larvae of C. nitida are noted for moving on
their backs unlike most other scarab species.
AMERICAN
ENTOMOLOGIST
Spring 1993
17
According to the Cochiti, an
Eleodes beetle hides its face in the
dirt when approached because the
beetle is ashamed for a botched job
of placing stars in the sky. Photographed by Dr. Bruce Elkind.
18
Navajos of the southwestern United States
looked upon beetles of the Rhipiphoridae with a
strange mixture of awe and amusement. They
believed that these insects worked with a monster
that broke the pottery of the dead and that these
beetles smashed the pottery found at ancient
villages into small fragments. Hence, this myth
explains why pottery that dates back to extinct
civilizations frequently is found broken.
Another interesting example of insect behavior
explained by Native American mythology concerns the genus Eleodes of the family Tenebrionidae. As one approaches an adult Eleodes, it will
lower its head to the ground, raise its abdomen,
and emit a disagreeable odor as a defense against
enemies. The Cochiti of the southwestern United
States associated this behavior with another creation story. This story noted that long, long ago
this beetle was assigned to place the stars in the
sky. Unfortunately, the beetle became careless
and dropped the stars that then scattered to form
the Milky Way. So ashamed was the beetle for
what he had done, that even today the beetle hides
its face in the dirt when anyone approaches.
Tenebrionid beetles also play in a minor role in
the mythology of the California Youlmani Yokuts
(Essig 1931). Another coleopteran that appears frequently in Native American
mythology is the firefly (family Lampyridae) because of its bioluminescence.
Fireflies play a role in a myth of the Mayans of Central America. In a story
reminiscent of tales told in Homer's Odyssey, Mayan twins must keep two cigars
lit all night. The twins appear to complete this Herculean task by substituting
fireflies at their cigar tips, thus tricking their captors (Tedlock 1985). Among the
Aztecs of Mexico, simple-minded people believed that fireflies were witches or
wizards that went around at night throwing out fire from their head or mouth
(Curran 1937). According to the Jicarilla Apaches of New Mexico, fire came from
a mythical campfire ignited by fireflies (Frazier 1930).
Mosquitoes are central to more stories than any other group of dipterans. Many
of these stories are derived from the blood-sucking habit of the insects. In Mayan
mythology, a mosquito acts as a spy by biting various lords to learn their names and
discern them from mere mannikins (Tedlock 1985). Clausen (1954) noted several
examples of mosquitoes in the mythology of Native North Americans. In one
interesting example, the Tahltan of British Columbia account for a wood-boring
beetle with the following myth. A long time ago, Wormwood (the larva of a beetle)
and Mosquito lived together. Day after day, Wormwood saw Mosquito come home
swollen with blood that he had eaten. When questioned, Mosquito, not wishing to
give away his secret, replied that he had sucked it out of trees. Wormwood
immediately attacked the trees, and to this day he and his descendants bore into
wood looking for blood. Hitchcock (1962) reported that mosquitoes were the most
prevalent pest in the far north of North America and described legends concerning
the origin of these insects. Among Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest, a tale
common to most of the groups explained the creation of mosquitoes from the ashes
of a cannibal who was burned by the youngest of five brothers in revenge for killing
his family (Bancroft-Hunt 1979).
Dipterans other than mosquitoes also are found in Native American mythology.
Among the Hopi of the southwestern United States, kachinas are friendly spirits
who are counterparts for the real world. These kachinas are personified into carved
figures called Tihu by the Hopi (and incorrectly called "kachina dolls" by people
unaware of the religious significance of the figures to the Hopi). The Hopi personify
insect spirits of the Assassin Fly in various kachina figures (Wright 1977). The
AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIIT
Auraucanian of South America believed that departed tribesmen, particularly
chiefs, took the form of horseflies. These insects are regarded as spirits from the
beyond, and horseflies appearing at feasts are accepted as an indication that the
dead tribesmen are taking part in the feast (Clausen 1954). In Navaho myths, there
is a big fly that will sometimes fly down and sit on the shoulder of one who is walking
alone in the desert. This fly is known as Big Fly and whispers to young heroes the
answers to questions that their fathers put to them when being tested. Big Fly is the
voice ofthe holy spirit revealing hidden wisdom (Campbell 1988). The Montagnais
of eastern Canada believed that the overlord of fish, particularly salmon and cod,
was Big Biter (= Tabanus affinis Kirby). This fly appeared whenever fish were being
taken from the water and hovered over the fisherman to see how his subjects were
being treated. Occasionally Big Biter would bite the fisherman to remind him that
the fish were in his custody and to warn him against wastefulness (Speck 1935).
Numerous legends also exist about hymenopterans. In Navaho mythology, ants
are important actors in the Emergence Myth, and a whole chant complex, Red
Antway, takes it name from the insect (Wyman and Bailey 1964). One interesting
legend of the Yurok of California explains that ants and wasps came to be
venomous by catching chips in their mouths from a mythical burning arrowhead
(Waterman 1920). In another story, the Algonquin of Canada explain how bees,
wasps, and hornets gained the power to sting. Ages ago, bees were industrious but
could not sting. Hence, other animals stole their honey and bees frequently starved.
After appealing to the Great Spirit, bees were given barbed stingers to protect
themselves. Because the wasps and hornets claimed to be cousins of the bees, the
Great Spirit also gave them stinging weapons. In another legend, the theme of
industrious bees occurs again with moral overtones. In this story, two tribes of little
people lived near each other. The difference between them was that one tribe looked
for food and conserved it wisely while the other tribe played and sang and danced
all day. Eventually, the GreatSpiritreacted by making the industrious tribe into bees
and the lazy tribe into flies (Clausen 1954). Hence, bees fly from flower to flower
Spring 1993
Aztec grasshopper sculpture
made of carneo/ite measuring
19 x 46 x 16 cm. This insect
is symbolic of Chapultepec
("Grasshopper Hill") found in
Mexico City and considered to be
a sacred place by the Aztecs.
CNCA-INAH-MEX, Museo
Nacional de Antropologia,
Mexico City.
19
Sikyatki earthenware vase dated
pre-Columbian from Arizona.
Lepidoptera occur frequently
in Native American art and
mythology. Catalogue No. 155681,
Department of Anthropology,
Smithsonian Institution.
eating honey while flies eat food that has been thrown out, apparently a justified
fate for lazy people. The concept that bees were industrious also is illustrated in
Mayan mythology. Mysterious Mayan ceremonies connected with bees seem to
have symbolized people of great industry and potential (Nicholson 1985). Hymenoptera also play minor roles in other Mayan legends (Tedlock 1985).
Because of the beauty, power of flight, and complete metamorphosis found in
butterflies and moths, these insects frequently are found in Native American myths.
In North America, the Blackfeet believed that a butterfly brought sleep and dreams.
A Blackfoot butterfly symbol, a design roughly in the shape of a maltese cross, was
embroidered into buckskin and tied into a baby's hair to hasten the child's sleep
(Grinnell 1899). The butterfly was also a prominent figure in the myth and ritual
of the Hopi. This insect occurs frequently on prehistoric pottery, in a ritual
"Butterfly Dance," and a clan in one of the Hopi pueblos was even called the
Butterfly Clan (Fewkes 1910). The spirit of the butterfly is personified in Hopi
kachina figures (Wright 1977). Born out of the caterpillar in the chrysalis,
butterflies were a symbol of rebirth, regeneration, happiness, and joy to Native
Americans in Mexico. In one legend, the powerful, plumed serpent god Quetzalcoatl first enters the world in the shape of a chrysalis, out of which the god painfully
emerges into the full light of perfection symbolized by the butterfly. The Obsidian
butterfly, Itzpapalotl, is a patron deity in the Aztec calendar (Nicholson 1985).
Native South Americans also integrated various Lepidoptera into their mythologies
(Hitchcock 1962). To the Goajiro of Columbia, if a particular large, white moth,
is found in a bedroom, it must not be mistreated for it is the spirit of an ancestor
come to visit. If the moth becomes troublesome, it can be removed only with the
greatest of care or the spirit may take vengeance. Among the Aymara of Bolivia, a
certain rare nocturnal moth was thought to be an omen of death.
In addition to previously mentioned insects, other insects and arthropods are
found frequently in Native American mythology. However, myths related to
spiders deserve special mention because these myths are both numerous and
widespread. In South America, the Nazca made an enormous figure of a spider on
the desert plains of Peru (Reiche 1949). Spiders also are found in the mythology of
Mexico and Central America. Bierholst (1985) provided several examples of
spiders, including Spider Woman, as mythological figures among Native North
Americans. In a great many myths told west ofthe Mississippi, Spider Woman turns
up as a helpful grandmother. Spider Woman, the Earth Goddess, is a central figure
in Hopi cosmology because she wills various aspects of the world into being
(Mullett 1979). Spider Rock, at the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in
Arizona, was named by the Navaho for Spider Woman. This monolith rises a
20
AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIIT
spectacular 264 m (867 ft) from the floor of the canyon. In contrast to Spider
Woman is the trickster, Iktome, the Spider Man. This mythological figure occurs
frequently in stories of the Sioux of the Dakotas of the United States. Spider Man
is a loafer who lies and steals and tries to seduce women (Erdoes and Ortiz 1984).
As noted in previous examples, insects played several different roles in Native
American mythology. At one extreme, some insects were considered the revenge of
demons upon mankind. At the other extreme, a butterfly spirit could gently bring
sleep and dreams to a child. Insects in myths taught morality lessons, explained the
physical environment, and on a grand scale, even gave understanding to the origins
of the earth itself. Unquestionably,
insect lore provides much insight into how
Native Americans viewed themselves and their universe.
I thank my wife, Susan Gould, for encouraging
stimulated my interest in cultural entomology.
me to travel,
which
has
Bancroft-Hunt, N. 1979. People of the totem. Orbis Publishing, London, UK.
Bierhorst,j. 1985. The mythology of North America. William Morrow and Company, New
York.
Bozzoli de Wille, M. E. 1975. Birth and death in the belief system of the Bribri Indians of
Costa Rica. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Athens, Athens, GA.
Campbell, j. 1988. The power of myth. Doubleday, New York.
Clausen, L. W. 1954. Insect fact and folklore. MacMillan, New York.
Curran, C. H. 1937. Insect lore of the Aztecs revealing early acquaintance with many of our
pests. Nat. Hist. 39: 196-203.
Erdoes, R. & A. Ortiz. 1984. American Indian myths and legends. Pantheon, New York.
Essig, E. O. 1931. A history of entomology. MacMillan, New York.
Fewkes, j. W. 1910. The butterfly in Hopi myth and ritual. Am. Anthropol., New Series.
12: 576-594.
Frazier,j. G. 1930. Myths of the origin of fire. MacMillan, New York.
Grinnell, G. B. 1899. The butterfly and spider among the Blackfeet. Am. Anthropol., New
Acknowledgment
• •••••••••••••
References Cited
••••••••••••••
Series. 1: 194-196.
Hitchcock, S.W. 1962. Insects and Indians of the Americas. Bull. Entomol. Soc. Am. 8:
181-187.
Hogue, C. L. 1987. Cultural entomology. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 32: 181-199.
Mullett, G. M. 1979. Spider woman stories. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Nicholson, I. 1985. Mexican and Central American mythology. Peter Bedrick Books, New
York.
Reiche, M. 1949. Mystery on the desert. Reiche, Lima, Peru.
Speck, F. G. 1935. Naskapi: the savage hunters of the Labrador Peninsula. University of
Oklahoma Press. Norman.
Tedlock, D. 1985. Popol Yuh. Simon and Schuster, New York.
Waterman, T. T. 1920. Yurok geography. Univ. Cal. Pub!. Am. Arch. and Ethnol. 16:
177-314.
Wright, B. 1977. Hopi Kachinas. Northland Press, Flagstaff, AZ.
Wyman, L. & F. Bailey. 1964. Navaho Indian ethnoentomology. University of New Mexico
Press. Albuquerque.
0
Ron Cherry is at the Everglades Research and Education Center, P. O. Box 8003,
Belle Glade, FL 33430. Much of his research focuses on soil insect pests of field
crops. He also has an interest in cultural entomology.
Spring 1993
21
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