Talk:Hopi mythology

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Contents 1 'far past' link to 'root race' 2 underdeveloped 3 'No Citations' tag 4 Frank Waters' "Book of the Hopi" is not a reliable source 4.1 Argument for a Limited Use of Waters

[edit] 'far past' link to 'root race'

In the last paragraph there is a link to an article on 'root race', which appears to be related to what is either a pseudo-scientific theory or at least another mythology and/or religion. I would like to know how Hopi mythology and this other mythology actually relate. Mostly, I am concerned that this article represents incorrect information about Hopi beliefs.

Yes, I agree. Lots of plain false info here. I'm removing much of it that I'm fairly certain is bad. Athana 18:10, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] underdeveloped

This is an underdeveloped article with a few misleading specific details that do not represent the idea as a whole. Watch out.

To aid development I have merged the content from the created stub pages of the various gods etc. These do not warrant separate articles in the first instance but could always be split out again in the future if necessary. No offense intended. This page also desperately needs a rewrite and attention from an expert so I have tagged it as such Madmedea 20:41, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

I have begun an extensive update of this topic using information from Waters' Book of the Hopi. I have added a "Four Worlds" section and will continue to add and update this article in the coming days. Strothatynhe 22:57, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 'No Citations' tag

The page now has footnote citations for all of the information contained in it...can we consider removing the no citations tag?? Strothatynhe 19:29, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Frank Waters' "Book of the Hopi" is not a reliable source

Frank Waters primarily got his information on Hopi mythology from Oswald "White Bear" Fredericks. Oswald was married to a white woman, was a convert to Christianity, and was not a fully initiated Hopi Indian. I added to the References section Roxie McLeod's master's thesis, "Dreams and rumors: a history of "Book of the Hopi"", which details the problems with Waters' book. I also added Harold Courlander's "The Fourth World of the Hopis" - it's a much more accurate source. I am not enough of an expert on Hopi traditions to fix everything in the article, but if it is largely based on Waters, and it appears to be, then it needs some serious editing. 71.246.82.215 20:14, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

The original article was made up of scraps of fragmented information which often contradicted each other. I am not an expert on Hopi mythology at all, but the book was the only reference I could find. Seeing as it is not a reliable source, I will delete all sections relating to it. I hope you can use more reliable and acurate information to restructure the page.Strothatynhe 05:44, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

The page looks much better and appears to be more accurate. I am only slightly confused as to why Waters' book continues to be used as a source.Strothatynhe 00:17, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Argument for a Limited Use of Waters

I understand that Waters is no longer in vogue for Hopi mythology. It is absolutely true that some of his work may have misinterpreted Hopi belief, but that is not to say that everything in the work it automatically bunk. In using Waters, I have tried to use only those parts for which I have found another source (excluding his version of the creation myth). However, Waters produces some information which I can find in no other source but which also seems relaible. For instance, Waters' relation that he actually saw one of the sacred Hopi tablets is entirely plausible, especially when he gives a discription closely matching that of other whites who said they were shown some of the stones roughly 80 years earlier. It is possible that Waters read these descriptions and then made the occassion up, but so far as I know, Waters has only been accussed of misinterpretation, never fabrication or out and out deception.Panbobor —Preceding unsigned comment added by Panbobor (talk • contribs) 15:51, 3 September 2007 (UTC)