Pawnee mythology is the body of oral history, cosmology, and myths of the Pawnee people concerning their gods and heroes. The Pawnee are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, formerly located on the Great Plains along tributaries of the Missouri and Platte Rivers in Nebraska and Kansas and currently located in Oklahoma. They historically speak Pawnee, a Caddoan language. The Pawnees lived in villages of earth lodges. They grew corn and went on long bison hunts on the open plains twice a year. The tribe has four bands: the Skidi and "the South Bands" consisted of the Chawi, the Kitkahahki and the Pitahawirata Pawnee.
There were some differences in the mythology of the Skidi and the South Bands.[2]: 465 The Skidis were "the great star specialists",[2]: 465 with a belief system focusing on visible objects on the night sky. Stars east of the Milky Way were regarded as male gods, while the female powers reigned in the western sky.[1]: 40 The South Bands acknowledged the creative powers of some celestial objects and meteorological phenomena, but largely counted upon animals for support and guidance.[2]: 186
Much of the written literature about Pawnee religion and cosmology was recorded by the anthropologist James Rolfe Murie (Skiri Pawnee), (1862–1921), who was a fluent Pawnee speaker.[3]
- ^ a b Murie, James R. (1981a): "Ceremonies of the Pawnee. Part I. The Skiri." Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology. No. 27. Washington.
- ^ a b c James Rolfe Murie. (1981b): "Ceremonies of the Pawnee. Part II. The South Bands." Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology. No. 27. Washington.
- ^ Straus, Straus (Autumn 1984). "Review: Ceremonies of the Pawnee". American Indian Quarterly. 8 (4). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press: 375. doi:10.2307/1183678. JSTOR 1183678. Retrieved 27 November 2024.