| OCR Text |
Show The Zuni Origin and Migration Narrative To understand the importance of Kolhu/walatwa and Wetsak'yaya Onnane it is necessary to understand its place in the Zunis' origin and migration narratives, and to have at least a general notion of the meaning and concept of the place in Zuni's complex religion. The epic narratives that describe the origin and migration of the Zuni people have been studied by anthropologists, linguists, and other scholars for more than a century. Learned by rote, and recited during long, complicated ceremonial performances, some of the narratives take more than four hours to narrate. No one person or group knows all of the story of the origin and migration of the Zunis. Each religious group passes on its own traditions. A number of ethnologists have collected and published versions of parts of the origin and migration narrations, comparing the Zuni epic to the Iliad and Bible in poetic scope, traditional literary technique, and metaphoric content. Among those who published versions or portions of versions of the Zuni narratives after doing fieldwork at Zuni were Frank Hamilton Cushing in the early 1880s, Matilda Coxe Stevenson a few years later, Elsie Clews Parsons and Ruth Bunzel in the 1920s and - 27 - |
