Editing Pawnee mythology (section)

==Deities and spirit animals==
Atí{{hamza}}as Tirawa, which means "Our Father Above" in the Pawnee language (often translated, inaccurately, as "Great Spirit"),<ref name="Tirawa">{{cite web |url=http://www.native-languages.org/morelegends/tirawa.htm |title=Legendary Native American Figures: Tirawa (Atius Tirawa)|website=www.native-languages.org |access-date=November 16, 2014}}</ref> was the [[creator god]]. Another variant, perhaps most used, is Tirawahat.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|38 and 179}} <ref name=Blaine1990>Blaine, Martha R. (1990): ''Pawnee Passage, 1870-1875''. Norman and London.</ref>{{rp|66}} He was believed to have taught the Pawnee people [[tattoo]]ing, fire-building, hunting, agriculture, speech and clothing, religious rituals (including the use of [[tobacco]] and sacred bundles), and sacrifices. He was associated with most natural phenomena, including stars and planets, wind, lightning, rain, and thunder. The wife of Tirawa was [[Atira (goddess)|Atira]], goddess of the Earth. Atira (literally, Mother Corn) was associated with corn.<ref>{{cite web|title=Atira|url=http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/atira.php|work=The Dinner Party|publisher=Brooklyn Museum|access-date=11 October 2011}}</ref>

The male Morning Star in the East was believed to be created first. Being the [[war god]]<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|158}} he wore the dress of a warrior.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|38}} After him came the female Evening Star in the West.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|39}} She resisted the divine plan to create humankind. Morning Star had to fight and overcome a number of forces in the western sky with his fireball<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|126}} to finally mate with her. The first human being thus created was a girl.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|31}}

Six major stars represented other gods controlled by Tirawahut. Two of them were the female Southwest and Northwest Stars. The male stars were the North, the Northeast, the Southeast, and the South Stars. Some had specific tasks to fulfill:
*The North Star was the son of South Star. He watched over the people and had to [[Polaris|keep his post]].<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|40}}
*Northeast Star (or Big Black Meteoric Star) controlled the animals, in particular the bison. He was also in charge of the shift from day to night.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|39}} According to some Skidis, this unidentified and enigmatic star was a buffalo bull carrying the heaven on his back.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|42}} The mythology of the South Bands does not mention this god at all and only a number of the other star gods.<ref name=MurieII/>{{rp|465}}
*Southeast Star (or Red Star) regulated the coming of day and had authority among the animals.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|39}}
*South Star rose sometimes on the heaven to see if his son (North Star) remained on his fixed position. South Star ruled in the land of the dead. He received no prayers and no ceremony was held in his name.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|39}} Paths in the Milky Way guided the dead human beings to his dominion.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|42}}

The Thunder, the Lightning, the Cloud and the Wind were four great powers in the west. They obeyed the Evening Star. By means of constant song they generated the Earth<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|42}} on which the first girl (the child of Evening and Morning Stars) was placed.

The solar and lunar deities were Shakuru and Pah, respectively. They were the last of all gods placed in the heavens.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|41}} Their offspring was a boy, and he was put on Earth, too. Aside from this, the Sun and the Moon are of relatively minor standing in the Skidi Pawnee mythology.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|39}}

[[Meteorite]]s brought good fortune to the finders. They were seen as the children of Tirawahut sent down to Earth.<ref name=MurieI/>{{rp|67}}

While the Skidi Pawnee relied a great deal on the powers and the aid of stars and other objects in [[cosmos]], the South Bands came through foremost by the assistance and advice of a number of animals.<ref name=MurieII/>{{rp|465}} Yet, the gods in heaven existed, and the animals acted as [[intermediary|go-betweens]] when they instructed and guided the South Bands.<ref name=MurieII/>{{rp|186}}

The White [[Beaver]] ceremony of the Chawi served nearly the same purpose as the renewing or restarting Spring Awakening ceremony (Thunder ceremony) of the Skidi. However [[Hibernation|hibernating]] animals were revitalized through this rite rather than the renewal of corn crops.<ref name=MurieII/>{{rp|201}}

Tirawa conferred miraculous powers on certain animals.  These spirit animals, the ''nahurac'', would act as Tirawa's messengers and servants, and could intercede with him on behalf of the Pawnee. The nahurac had five dwellings or lodges:<ref name=grinnell>Grinnell, George Bird (1893).  [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hbx1AAAAMAAJ&q=george+bird+grinnell ''Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales''.]  New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.  Retrieved 2010-09-16.</ref>
* The foremost among them was [[Pahuk]], usually translated "hill island", a bluff on the south side of the [[Platte River]], near the town of [[Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska|Cedar Bluffs]] in present-day [[Saunders County, Nebraska]].<ref name=pahuknom>Jensen, Richard E.  (1973).  "National Register of Historic Places Inventory&mdash;Nomination Form: Pahuk".</ref>
*[[Lalawakohtito]], or "dark island", was an island in the Platte near [[Central City, Nebraska]].
*[[Ahkawitakol]], or "white bank", was on the [[Loup River]] opposite the mouth of the [[Cedar River (Nebraska)|Cedar River]] in what is now [[Nance County, Nebraska]].
*[[Waconda Spring|Kitzawitzuk]], translated "water on a bank", also known to the Pawnee as Pahowa, was a spring on the [[Solomon River]]<ref name=grinnell />{{rp|358}} near [[Glen Elder, Kansas]].  It now lies beneath the waters of [[Waconda Reservoir]].<ref>[http://www.glenelder.com/waconda_springs.htm "The History of Waconda".] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825003215/http://www.glenelder.com/waconda_springs.htm |date=2010-08-25 }}  [http://www.glenelder.com/index.htm Glen Elder, Kansas.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129001100/http://glenelder.com/Index.htm |date=2011-01-29 }}  Retrieved 2010-09-16.</ref>
*The fifth lodge of the nahurac was known to the Pawnee as [[Guide Rock (hill)|Pahur]] (/pa'hur/, translated as "hill that points the way" or "guide rock").<ref name=grinnell />{{rp|xxi, 359}}