Leo 20: The Zuni sun worshippers

T h e w o r d Z u ni i s t h e n a m e o f a N a t i ve American tribe of the southwestern United S t a t e s. The n a me itself is a Spanish c o r r u p t i o n o f t he w o r d S u n i f is t i , t h e n a me f i r s t u s e d b y e x p lo r e r A n t o n i o d e E s p a j o i n t h e l a t e 1 6 t h c e n t u r y . 1 T h e n a t i v e s, h o w e v e r , r e f e r r e d t o t h e m se l v e s a s t h e A s h iwi a n d t o their territory

Sh i wo n a , b ot h f r om S h i wi

w h i c h m e a n s f le s h. T h e w o r d s un d e s c e n d s f r o m t he r o o t s aew el which means the the sun.2 words Other derivatives i n c l ud e

south,

s o u t h e rn, s o l a r , a n d h e l i u m .
T h e w o r d w o rshi p i s a c o m b i n a t i on o r b l e n d o f t h e b a s e wo rt h a n d t h e s u f f i x s h ip . T he b a s e d e s c e n d s f r o m t h e r o o t w er -3 , t o t u r n , b e n d . 3 O t h e r d e r i v a t i ve s i n c l u d e t he s u f f i x wa rd, wo rt h , s t a l wa rt, we i rd,

ve rs u s , ve rs i o n, ve rs e , ve rte b ra e, di ve rt , e x t ro ve rt, de x t ro s e, p e rve rt, p ro s e, re ve rt, s ub ve rt , a n d u n i ve rs e .

TH EMES : T he Z u n i a r e o n e o f n e a rl y 2 0 I n d i a n t r i b e s t h a t o n ce i n h a b i t e d t h e a r e a t h a t i s n o w ca l l e d N e w M e xi c o a n d A r i z o n a . 4
While many anthropologists believe that the Zuni are related to the other Pueblo tribes that are scattered throughout the Southwest, they are unique in that their language, to this day, is only spoken by them and bares no resemblance to the languages of any of the other surrounding peoples. Zuni life, much like it was in the past, is still deeply religious. The Zuni believe that everything shares a common spirit, being interconnected, and gods reside in the lakes of Arizona and New Mexico. The chiefs and the shamans during religious festivals carry out two different types of ceremonies. Song and dance accompanies masked performances by the chiefs while the shamans pray to the gods for favors ranging from fertile soil to abundant amounts of rain.
1 2 3 4 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15768a.htm Watkins, c. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo -European Roots, p. 72 Watkins, c. (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo -European Roots, p. 99 http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/northamerica/zun i.html Starling Hunter 2011 1

T h e Z u ni m y t h o l og y c o n t a i n s a p a n t h e o n o f G o d s o r K a c h i n a s. T he c h i e f d e i t y i s A w o n a w i l o n a , t h e c r e a t or o f t h e w o r l d i n c l u d i n g t h e c l o u d s a n d t h e o c e a n , a s w e l l a s t he Su n F a t h e r a n d E a r t h M o t h e r , t h e p a r e n t s o f a l l l i f e o n E a r t h, f r o m w h o m a l l l i v i n g c r e a t u r e s c a m e . 5 I t i s m o s t i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t t h e k e y wo r d Z u ni me a n s fl e s h , t ha t t he Sun in the Zu ni mythology is a F a t h e r , and that t he keyword worshi pp ers d e s c e n d s f r o m a r o o t w h o s e o t h e r d e r i va t i v e s i n c l u d e ve rse ( m e t e r e d o r r h ym e d c o m p o si t i o n o f w o r d s ) a n d u n i ve rs e ( ma n i fe st creation). Also it is worth n ot i n g that in many religion s and p h i l o s op h i ca l t r a d i t i o n s t he t e r m L o go s i s t a k e n t o m e a n b o t h G o d a n d t h e w o r d o f G o d . 6 T h u s , w h a t w e h a ve i n t h i s s y m b o l t he n i s t he c r e a t i o n o f t h e m a n i f e s t e d u n i v e r s e a n d t h e d w e l l e r s t he r e i n ; w e h a v e a w o r d or w o r d s o r l i n e s o f ve rs e m a d e f l e s h. T h e t h e m e i s TH E U NIVE RS E o r t h e One Word of God.

5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/zuni_mythology 6 http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/Logos Starling Hunter 2011 2