Kokopelli - by Ekkehart Malotki (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Kokopelli the flute player is one of the most popular icons that American culture has adopted from the Native peoples of North America. The Kokopelli name and image are everywhere, adorning everything from jewelry, welcome mats, T-shirts, and money clips to motels, freeway underpasses, nature trails, nightclubs, and string quartets. Kokopelli evokes mystery and wonder, ancient ceremonies and spirituality, Mother Earth and the purity of nature.

But what exactly is Kokopelli? Just how Native American is this ubiquitous flute player? In this fascinating book, the distinguished scholar of Hopi culture and history Ekkehart Malotki describes the development of the Kokopelli phenomenon in American mass culture from its beginning to Kokopelli's present status as pan-Southwestern icon. He explores the figure's connections with the Hopi kachina god Kookopölö and Maahu, the cicada, and discusses how this rock-art image has been appropriated and misunderstood. Kokopelli sheds light on a little-understood aspect of Hopi culture and testifies to the continuing power of Native cultures to spark the popular imagination and interest of outsiders.

Review Quotes

"Who is this flute player? How did he acquire his name? And what is his relationship with the similarly named Hopi kachina Kookopolo? Ekkehart Malotki sets out to answer these questions. . . . He brings to the investigation a close acquaintance with the Hopi language and the critical judgment of the wary scholar."-Journal of Folklore Research

"Combining a wealth of scholarly data with a highly readable text is a feat rarely accomplished in anthropology. Ekkehart Malotki has done it remarkably well in "Kokopelli," All interested in this mythical flute player should add it to their library."-Tony Hillerman

"The strength of the book lies in its detailed review of Hopi texts combined with six folktales, and the author's integrative commentary. . . . Excellent photographs of both insects serve to illustrate graphically their significant physical differences. . . .Malotki suggests that the Kokopelli craze, rather then being viewed as exploitation by the dominant culture might also be seen 'as a change in the dominant culture through counteracculturation by Native Americans."

"Combining a wealth of scholarly data with a highly readable text is a feat rarely accomplished in anthropology. Ekkehart Malotki has done it remarkably well in "Kokopelli. All interested in this mythical flute player should add it to their library."

About the Author

Ekkehart Malotki is a professor of languages at Northern Arizona University. His many books include The Bedbugs' Night Dance and Other Hopi Tales of Sexual Encounter and Hopi Tales of Destruction, both available from the University of Nebraska Press.