A celebrated Bruin honors ‘the beauty, grace, power and wisdom of those who were here before us’
As a doctoral candidate in folklore and mythology at UCLA in the 1990s, Paul Apodaca focused his dissertation on the Cahuilla bird songs, a tradition that continues today among members of Native American Cahuilla tribes. The recipient of the award for Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year, he even invited modern-day bird singers to campus at UCLA’s annual Pow Wow. Despite the name, he explains, the songs are not about birds at all.
“The Cahuilla have a creation story, as do many cultures, as well as a migration story,” said Apodaca, who for decades has been an eminent figure in preserving and celebrating American Indian history and culture. “The songs are about the people’s migration from their place of creation to their present locations in the deserts of Southern California. It is thought by some that the mention of birds could be a calendric — a way of mentioning where they are in time, as particular birds are more present at different times of the year.”
UCLA alumnus Paul Apodaca is fascinated by birds in folklore. In the Aztec traditions, he shares, the hummingbird is associated as a personification of the god Huitzilopochtli, depicted here in the Florentine Codex. Image credit: Composite by Trever Ducote/UCLA
Today an associate professor emeritus at Chapman University, Apodaca, who is of Navajo and Mexican descent, earned his master’s degree in American Indian studies at UCLA in 1995 and returned to earn his doctorate in 1999. His legacy is clearly visible on campus: He is among the influential figures depicted in artist and professor Judith Baca’s mural “La Memoria de la Tierra” at Ackerman Union. When it comes to Native folktales, he says, birds and their symbolic significance weave some fascinating paths.
“The incorporation of birds and the symbolism of their feathers exist in every part of the New World, with dramatic examples of color found in the forests and jungles from Mexico to South America,” Apodaca said. “One of the most powerful of birds in the Aztec traditions is that of the hummingbird, which is associated as a personification of a god of war.”
What is the significance of birds in Native folklore?
Native folklore commonly references animals, insects, birds, fish, plants and other natural life forms as persons, as they can represent personifications of the power of nature. Birds were bountiful in pre-contact Native America and displayed the ability to dwell in the sky as well as on Earth.
The varieties of color of bird plumage, as well as the different sizes and behaviors of birds, give a wide range of association and importance to birds in folklore. Some birds are of enormous size and eat animals, as with condors, eagles and hawks, while others eat fish or lizards, while yet others eat seeds and fruit.
This allows for birds in folklore to be associated with the powers of the sky as well as with hunting, and with the beauty and delicacy of flowers and plants. From eagles to hummingbirds, the variety of birds can be used to represent all aspects of nature, and their plumage can be incorporated into art objects like feathered baskets and headdresses.
What are some of Native lore’s most captivating birds?
A representation of the power of lightning, storms and rain is seen in depictions of thunderbird designs and art that range from the Pacific Northwest to the Great Plains and into the Southwest. There are many folktales about thunderbirds from many cultures, and some are associated with the game of lacrosse.
Rain and storms are both powerful and life-giving. Folktales that feature these types of birds often are acknowledgements on the part of Native people that their lives are supported by the power of nature and are given a sense of reverence. The pottery designs found in Puebloan pottery are often variations of rainbirds, wrought in a highly abstracted tradition of rain clouds as triangles and curved necks and beaks representing whirling wind. Feathers made of black and white triangles depict clouds, while colors, lines or dots in the body of the rainbird often symbolize the rain within.
Tales of hunting birds, like those of eagles, hawks, condors and ravens, are often associated with questions of creation, as they are present at moments of the drama of life and death. The plumage of these types of birds are often used as symbols of courage and strength as well as wisdom.
A tale of the California Indians called the Mariposa Mewuk, who dwelt in the Yosemite Valley, tells the story of Kah-kool, the raven who blackened himself with ashes to make himself less easy to see when hunting, and how he was the first to see deer and to learn how to use their meat for food.
Creation stories of the Northwest Coast associate the raven with the beginning of life, and he is commonly seen at the top of totem poles, signifying his importance to the Native peoples from Alaska southward.
What can everyone learn from stories like these?
The use of birds in folklore is a reminder to everyone that the power of nature is to be looked at with humility, as well as reverence and appreciation for beauty. The songs of birds can demonstrate artistry in nature that we can enjoy and appreciate, and possibly imitate with whistles and flutes, as well as singing. Birds that can imitate human voices, as with parrots and ravens, can remind us that we are living in a world we share with the beauty, grace, power and wisdom of those who were here before us.
*Source: University of California