Book

Maasaw: profile of a Hopi god

University of Nebraska Press11Published In 1987 • Pages: ix, 273

By: Malotki, Ekkehart, Lomatuway'ma, Michael.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The god Maasaw is without doubt one of the most important beings in the entire pantheon of Hopi mythological figures. His pervasiveness in Hopi culture is reflected in the great variety of folk beliefs associated with him as a god, as well as the numerous tales in which he acts as the protagonist. This document investigates the rise in status of Maasaw from that of a prankster and trickster to that of a near-monotheistic divinity. The author describes his many roles as god of death and ruler of the underworld, aboriginal proprietor of the earth, the owner of fire and crops, the maker of all things animal and vegetable, the giver and caretaker of life, the defender of Hopi ways, and as a powerful war deity. Today (1990s) Maasaw …"is regarded as either Satan or Great Spirit within Hopi society" (p. 4).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Fire
Drama
Mythology
Eschatology
Spirits and gods
Organized ceremonial
Texts in the speaker's language
Texts translated into english
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Hopi
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southwest and Basin
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle; 1999
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1984-1985
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
not specified
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Second and Third Mesa pueblos, northeastern Arizona, United States
NotesAdditional notes
Ekkehart Malotki, Michael Lomatuway'ma ; drawings by Petra Roeckerath
Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-268)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
87000163
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Hopi Indians