Kokopelli: The Making of an Icon

But what exactly is Kokopelli? Just how Native American is this ubiquitous flute player? In this fascinating book, the distinguished scholar of Hopi culture and history Ekkehart Malotki describes the development of the Kokopelli phenomenon in American mass culture from its beginning to Kokopelli’s present status as pan-Southwestern icon. He explores the figure’s connections with the Hopi kachina god Kookopölö and Maahu, the cicada, and discusses how this rock-art image has been appropriated and misunderstood. sheds light on a little-understood aspect of Hopi culture and testifies to the continuing power of Native cultures to spark the popular imagination and interest of outsiders.