1. Class 13
The Americas

2. Quetzalcoatl
“snake”), the Feathered
Serpent, one of the major deities of
the ancient Mexican pantheon.
Representations of a feathered snake
occur as early as the Teotihuacán
civilization (3rd to 8th century ce) on
the central plateau. At that
time, Quetzalcóatl seems to have
been conceived as a vegetation
god—an earth and water deity
closely associated with the rain god
Tlaloc.
With the immigration of Nahuaspeaking tribes from the
north, Quetzalcóatl’s cult underwent
drastic changes.
Quetzalcóatl, (from Nahuatl quetzalli, “tail
feather of the quetzal bird
[Pharomachrus mocinno],” and
coatl, The subsequent Toltec culture (9th
through 12th centuries), centered at the
city of Tula, emphasized war and human
sacrifice linked with the worship of
heavenly bodies. Quetzalcóatl became
the god of the morning and evening
star, and his temple was the centre of
ceremonial life in Tula.
In Aztec times (14th through 16th centuries)
Quetzalcóatl was revered as the patron
of priests, the inventor of the calendar
and of books, and the protector of
goldsmiths and other craftsmen; he was
also identified with the planet Venus. As
the morning and evening
star, Quetzalcóatl was the symbol of
death and resurrection. With his
companion Xolotl, a dog-headed god, he
was said to have descended to the
underground hell of Mictlan to gather
the bones of the ancient dead. Those
bones he anointed with his own
blood, giving birth to the men who
inhabit the present universe.

3. •
Tezcatlipoca
The legend of the victory of Tezcatlipoca
over the Feathered Serpent probably
reflects historical fact. The first century
of the Toltec civilization was dominated
by the Teotihuacán culture, with its
inspired ideals of priestly rule and
peaceful behavior. The pressure of the
northern immigrants brought about a
social and religious revolution, with a
military ruling class seizing power from
the priests. Quetzalcóatl’s defeat
symbolized the downfall of the Classic
theocracy. His sea voyage to the east
should probably be connected with the
invasion of Yucatán by the Itzá, a tribe
that showed strong Toltec features.
Quetzalcóatl’s calendar name was Ce
Acatl (One Reed). The belief that he
would return from the east in a One
Reed year led the Aztec sovereign
Montezuma II to regard the Spanish
conqueror Hernán Cortés and his
comrades as divine envoys, because
1519, the year in which they landed on
the Mexican Gulf coast, was a One Reed
year. (See alsoAztec calendar.)

4. Coyote
In the antics of the Coyote Trickster, people sometimes learn
more about their own weaknesses and foolishness. This
figure teaches through his mistakes and by being a bad
example for the Indians. Through Coyote’s actions, the
Native Americans learn to laugh at themselves and their
occasional acts of self-deceit. Jill Stefko has this to say
about the Coyote Trickster:
“He is often fooled and astonished by the outcome of his
own pranks. He survives this, then goes onto not
learning by his mistakes and makes bigger ones. He
denotes both folly and wisdom and the balance of the
two. Wisdom is hidden in the foolery. He may have lost
the skirmish, but remains unbeaten. Coyote is keeper of
magic, teacher and creator... Trickster[s] of Native
American tales often gets duped, but he always
rebounds and, at some point, even teaches himself
lessons he learns from.”
However, because he is a Trickster figure, he is not all bad.
He brought fire to the Native Americans, but can also
cause floods. Coyote is a very chaotic neutral
figure, more seen as a force of nature (or maybe a deity)
than a particular, mortal person or figure. Coyote is
sometimes seen to be a shapeshifter or an opportunist.
He is also seen to be cunning and stealthy. “He can
represent white and dark
magic, creativity, illumination, experience, and new life”
(Stefko). Tricksters dissolve boundaries and break
taboos. They delight in the ambiguous and in confusion.

5. Raven, The
Trickster God
There is more to RAVEN than meets the
eye. And how many of you have
met the eye of a raven? He is known
by many tribes under many names.
Ravens have always been
associated with Godliness. Few
people know that the first bird out
of NOAH's ark was a raven. It just
didn't return. It didn't feel the need.
ODIN relies on his two ravens to fly
round the world every day and keep
him informed. Edgar Allan Poe's
raven shrieked 'Nevermore' but
what that has to do with anything
only Poe knows.
In the beginning, RAVEN was first and
foremost a Creator and Trickster
God — especially of the Haida
tribe, who claim he discovered the
first humans hiding in a clam shell
and brought them berries and
salmon.
A bit of a tricky God himself, he's also
the long-suffering victim of archrival in trickery, COYOTE.

6. Sedna
• is the goddess of the sea
and marine animals in
Inuit mythology, also
known as the Mother of
the Sea or Mistress of
the Sea. The story of
Sedna, which is a
creation myth, describes
how she came to rule
over Adlivun, the
Inuitunderworld.
Generally considered a
vengeful goddess,
hunters must placate and
pray to Sedna to release
the sea animals from the
oceans depths for their
hunt.

7. pp. 609-613
Quetzalcoatl
pp. 616-620:The Emergence
Presentations
Each Group will Present one of the
stories using a thorough method of
analysis, Bierlin’s Trickster
characteristics or Campbell’s hero’s
journey
pp. 622-624 Lodgeboy and
Thrown-away
pp. 635-636 Raven and the
Sources of Light
pp. 638-641
Sedna
pp. 644-652
String
Caught By A Hair

8. Print up Cupid and Psyche under
myths on the website. Read
it.
Homework
Read Classic Fairy Tales:
Beauty and the Beast
pp. 25 – 42
Urashimathe Fisherman
pp. 66 – 68
The Frog Princess
pp. 68 – 72
Bluebeard
pp. 144 – 148
The Robber Bridegroom
pp. 151 - 154