Spider Grandmother

The tradition & historical record

Spider Grandmother (Hopi Kokyangwuti, Navajo Na'ashjé'ii Asdzáá) is an important figure in the mythology, oral traditions and folklore of many Native American cultures, especially in the Southwestern United States. ¹

In Hopi mythology, "Spider Grandmother" (Hopi Kokyangwuti) also called "Gogyeng Sowuhti" among many other names can take the shape of an old, or timeless woman or the shape of a common spider in many Hopi stories. When she is in her spider shape, she lives underground in a hole that is like a Kiva. When she is called upon, she will help people in many ways, such as giving advice or providing medicinal cures. "Spider Grandmother" is seen as a leader, a wise individual who represents good things. ¹

This story begins with Tawa (the Sun god) and Spider Woman (Spider Grandmother) who is identified with the Earth Goddess. They separate themselves to create other lesser gods, then create the Earth and its creatures. Spider Woman and Tawa realized the creatures they made were not alive so they gave them souls. After this, they created woman and man from their own likeness and sang them to life. From there, Spider Woman separated creatures into tribes and lead them through the Four Great Caverns. After they came to their final home, Spider Woman tells the people the roles of a woman and a man, as well as the religious practices they were to follow. It is also noted that anthropologist Fred Eggan found this version to be close to the Zuni creation myth. ¹

In this narrative, Grandmother Spider is also known as the Good Spirit. She acts as a guide to the creatures in the first world, helping them travel to the higher worlds. She guides and mentors them as they change into different forms, slowly becoming more human. She leaves the creatures in the fourth world (the high world) to settle permanently. ¹

In this story of creation, Spider Grandmother, also called "Gogyeng Sowuhti", is the assistant of Tawa. He sends her to the creatures living in the first world to deliver his word. Tawa is unhappy that his creations do not understand how to live. Spider Grandmother guides the creatures on their journeys through the worlds as their physical appearances change to be more human. In the third world she teaches them how to weave and make clay pots. While in the third world the people begin to turn away and forget Tawa. Because of this Spider Grandmother is sent to let the few who are still good know that it is time to leave the others behind. With the help of the Pokanyhoya and the Chipmunk, Spider Grandmother advises and leads the people to the upper world where they will reside. Spider Grandmother helps the people create the Sun and Moon, advises the people on how and where to travel, and on religious practices. ¹

In The Destruction of Awatovi (A Walpi Reed Clan Version), Spider Grandmother uses her special glass to find a missing woman for Coyote and his grandmother. Coyote and his grandmother are searching for this missing woman while her husband is taking care of their children at home. In The Village at Lamehva (How the Reed Clan Came to Walpi), Spider Grandmother guides her two grandsons who are both named Pakanghoya to create people out of mud. The brothers assume she brought the mud people to life. Later in the story, she acts as a guide to one of the mud people village members named Sikyakokuh. Spider Grandmother advises Sikyakokuh on his journey to find a hunting dog for the village. She tells him how to appease the village of dogs in order to give him one of their members. In Destruction by Fire (How the Village of Pivanhonkapi Perished), Spider Grandmother saves the Oraibi village from being burned down by the neighboring witches. Spider Grandmother spun a magical web over the village and having the people douse it with water. In The Races at Tsikuvi (Why the Payupki People Departed), Spider Grandmother helps the people in the Payupki village win races against the Tsikuvi village (whose members had been rude to her). She helped them by putting a special medicine on their best runners legs. Later in the story, she changes into her spider form and crawls into the ear of the second runner to give her advice on how to avoid the traps set by the Tsikuvi village. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Spider Grandmother”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Spider Grandmother is figure in native American mythology, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²