Review
Kokopelli, the mysterious, humpbacked fluteplayer of the American Southwest, has been a sacred figure to Native Americans since prehistoric times. Fertility symbol, rain priest, roving minstrel and trader, hunting magician, and trickster, Kokopelli was painted and carved on rock walls and boulders from the time of the Anasazi (the Ancient Ones) to the 1700s. Today, Kokopelli is still portrayed by Pueblo Indians in ceremonies, dances, songs, and stories; and he is also becoming popular in the art and literature on non-Indians. In Kokopelli: Fluteplayer Images in Rock Art, geologists Dennis Slifer and Jim Duffield present the most extensive survey ever conducted on rock art depictions of the humpbacked fluteplayer. The authors, whose research took them into remote canyons, hillsides, and river courses of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, discovered more than 300 rock art portraits of Kokopelli, including many that had never been documented - or presented in book form. In this richly illustrated volume they give descriptions of several dozen sites in the Southwest where the most compelling of archaic figures may be found drawn or etched in stone. To round out their study, the authors provide a generous sampling of Native American myths and stories about Kokopelli and other, related figures from the mythic past, as well as vivid reports of how Kokopelli was pictured on prehistoric southwestern pottery and kiva murals. With more than 300 drawings, color and b/w photographs, maps, over 90 bibliographic citations, an appendix of images, and a helpful glossary of terms, Kokopelli is the perfect guide for lay readers and professionals alike. -- Midwest Book Review
