Pawnee mythology facts for kids
Pawnee mythology tells the stories, beliefs, and history of the Pawnee people about their gods and heroes. The Pawnee are a Native American tribe. They originally lived on the Great Plains in what is now Nebraska and Kansas. Today, many Pawnee live in Oklahoma.
The Pawnee traditionally spoke Pawnee, a Caddoan language. They lived in villages with special homes called earth lodges. They grew corn and also went on long hunts for bison twice a year. The tribe had four main groups: the Skidi and the "South Bands," which included the Chawi, Kitkahahki, and Pitahawirata Pawnee.
There were some differences in the myths of the Skidi and the South Bands. The Skidi were known as "star specialists." Their beliefs focused on the stars and other objects in the night sky. They thought stars in the eastern sky were male gods, and female powers ruled the western sky. The South Bands also believed in the creative power of sky objects and weather. However, they mostly looked to animals for help and guidance.
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Gods and Spirit Animals
Atius Tirawa, often called "Father Above" in the Pawnee language, was the creator god. He was believed to have taught the Pawnee people many important skills. These included tattooing, building fires, hunting, farming, speaking, making clothes, and performing religious ceremonies. He was also linked to natural things like stars, planets, wind, lightning, rain, and thunder. Tirawa's wife was Atira, the goddess of the Earth. Atira, whose name means "Mother Corn," was connected to corn.
The male Morning Star in the East was believed to be the first star created. He was the war god and dressed like a warrior. After him came the female Evening Star in the West. She didn't want humans to be created. Morning Star had to fight many forces in the western sky with his fireball to finally join with her. The first human created from this union was a girl.
Six other major stars represented gods controlled by Tirawahut. Two were female: the Southwest and Northwest Stars. The male stars were the North, Northeast, Southeast, and South Stars. Each had special jobs:
- The North Star was the son of the South Star. He watched over the people and had to stay in his place.
- The Northeast Star (or Big Black Meteoric Star) controlled animals, especially bison. He also managed the change from day to night. Some Skidi believed this star was a buffalo bull carrying the sky on his back. The South Bands did not mention this god.
- The Southeast Star (or Red Star) controlled the coming of day and had power over animals.
- The South Star sometimes rose in the sky to check if his son (North Star) was still in his fixed spot. The South Star ruled the land of the dead. People did not pray to him or hold ceremonies in his name. Paths in the Milky Way guided dead humans to his home.
The Thunder, Lightning, Cloud, and Wind were four powerful forces in the west. They obeyed the Evening Star. Through constant song, they created the Earth. The first girl (child of Evening and Morning Stars) was placed on this Earth.
The Sun god, Shakuru, and the Moon goddess, Pah, were the last gods placed in the heavens. Their child was a boy, who was also placed on Earth. However, the Sun and Moon were less important in Skidi Pawnee myths.
Meteorites were seen as children of Tirawahut sent to Earth. Finding them brought good luck.
While the Skidi Pawnee relied a lot on the power of stars, the South Bands mostly got help and advice from animals. Still, the sky gods existed, and animals acted as go-betweens to guide the South Bands.
The White Beaver ceremony of the Chawi group was similar to the Spring Awakening ceremony of the Skidi. It helped to bring back to life hibernating animals, instead of renewing corn crops.
Tirawa gave special powers to certain animals. These spirit animals, called nahurac, were Tirawa's messengers and helpers. They could speak to Tirawa for the Pawnee people. The nahurac had five special homes:
- The most important was Pahuk, a bluff on the south side of the Platte River, near Cedar Bluffs.
- Lalawakohtito, or "dark island," was an island in the Platte River near Central City, Nebraska.
- Ahkawitakol, or "white bank," was on the Loup River near the Cedar River in Nance County, Nebraska.
- Kitzawitzuk, meaning "water on a bank," was a spring on the Solomon River near Glen Elder, Kansas. It is now under the water of Waconda Reservoir.
- The fifth home was Pahur, meaning "hill that points the way" or "guide rock."
Celestial Observation
The Pawnee's yearly ceremonies were connected to watching the stars and planets. Their earth lodges were built to be both homes and observatories. They were also seen as a "microcosm," or a small model of the universe.
Each lodge was thought to be like the universe and also like a woman's womb. The daily activities inside the home represented her power to create life. The lodge also showed the universe in a practical way. Its construction involved setting up four posts for the four cardinal directions. These posts were almost perfectly lined up with the north-south and east-west lines.
A Pawnee observatory-lodge also needed a clear view of the eastern sky. The lodge's main line would face east-west. This way, the sunrise on the spring equinox would shine on the altar. The size of the lodge's smoke hole and door were designed to allow observation of the sky, for example, to see the Pleiades star cluster.
A Skidi-band Pawnee man once said that "The Skidi were organized by the stars." He explained that these powers from above made them into families and villages. They taught them how to live and perform their ceremonies. The sacred places of the four main villages were given by the four main stars, which guided the people.
Regular ceremonies were held before big events, like the twice-yearly buffalo hunts. Kawaha, a god often asked for good luck, was closely linked to buffalo hunts. Many other important activities, such as planting seeds in the spring and harvesting in the fall, began with a ceremony.
The most important Pawnee ceremony was the Spring Awakening ceremony. It was meant to wake up the earth and prepare it for planting. This ceremony was tied to watching the sky. It happened when the priest first saw "two small twinkling stars known as the Swimming Ducks in the northeastern horizon near the Milky Way." Then, he would hear rolling thunder from the West. This thunder was important because of its role in the Creation myth.
Morning Star Ceremony
The Morning Star ceremony was a ritual performed by only one village of the Skidi Pawnee. It was connected to the Pawnee creation story. In this story, the male Morning Star and the female Evening Star joined to create the first human, a girl.
The Skidi Pawnee performed the Morning Star ritual regularly, though not every year, until the 1810s. In 1818, a newspaper reported a sacrifice. The newborn child of a captive Comanche woman was sacrificed after the woman escaped. However, in the 1820s, a young Pawnee man named Petalesharo became famous for rescuing a Comanche girl and pushing for an end to the ritual.
U.S. Indian agents and important Pawnee leaders, like Knife Chief and Petalesharo, worked to stop this practice. They wanted to change customs that American settlers on the Plains did not approve of. The agents also hoped to protect the fur trade by reducing conflicts between tribes.
The public in the Eastern United States learned about this custom in 1820. This was due to reports of Man Chief, a young Pawnee warrior, who risked his life to save a Comanche girl from the sacrifice. The last known sacrifice was of Haxti, a 14-year-old Oglala Lakota girl, on April 22, 1838.
The Identity of the Morning Star
The exact identity of the Morning Star is not fully clear. Early accounts said it was Venus. However, most experts later thought it was Mars because it was described as red. Jupiter is also a possible candidate.
During the known ceremonies in 1827 and 1838, calculations show that Venus was visible in the morning sky.
Purpose of the Ceremony
The Morning Star ceremony was performed in spring. It was often a symbolic ceremony, but sometimes it involved a human sacrifice. A sacrifice would happen only if a man in the village dreamed that the Morning Star told him to perform the full ceremony. He would then talk to the keeper of the Morning Star bundle and receive a warrior costume. Both the visionary and the priest would cry, knowing the difficult mission the Morning Star had given them. The man, with help from volunteers, would then attack an enemy village and capture a girl of a suitable age.
When the girl was brought back, she was given to the Morning Star's servant (priest). People treated her with respect but kept her separate from the rest of the tribe. When it was time for the spring ceremony, she was ritually cleansed. A five-day ceremony followed, with the priest singing songs about the ritual's stages. The girl was symbolically changed from human to a celestial form, representing the Evening Star. On the last day, a procession of men, boys, and male infants (carried by their mothers) took the girl outside the village to a scaffold. The scaffold was made of sacred woods and skins, representing "Evening Star's garden in the west, the source of all animal and plant life."
Anthropologist Ralph Linton reported that Pawnee religious leaders carried out this practice "somewhat unwillingly." They saw it as an obligation or duty, not something they enjoyed. The ceremony was believed to ensure the success of crops, the continuation of all life on the Plains, and the ongoing existence of the Universe for the Skidi Pawnee.
Images for kids
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A staged photograph of the Morning Star ceremony, published in 1922.
