Editing Pelican (section)

=== Ancient and indigenous beliefs ===
The pelican (''[[henet]]'' in [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]]) was associated in [[Ancient Egypt]] with death and the [[afterlife]]. It was depicted in art on the walls of tombs, and figured in [[funeral|funerary]] texts, as a protective symbol against snakes. ''Henet'' was also referred to in the [[Pyramid Texts]] as the "mother of the king" and thus seen as a goddess. References in nonroyal funerary [[papyrus|papyri]] show that the pelican was believed to possess the ability to prophesy safe passage in the [[underworld]] for someone who had died.<ref name=":3">{{cite book| author = Hart, George| title = The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods And Goddesses| series = Routledge Dictionaries| year = 2005| publisher = Routledge| location = Abingdon, United Kingdom| isbn = 978-0-415-34495-1| page = 125}}</ref>

In [[Kashrut|Jewish dietary law]], pelican is not considered kosher (fit for consumption), as it is a type of [[seabird]] and therefore considered an [[unclean animal]].<ref>{{Cite book|title = Old Testament (King James Version) – Book of Leviticus (also included in Jewish Torah)|publisher = Bible Gateway|url = https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=leviticus%2011-11&version=KJV|pages = 11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = Old Testament (King James Version) – Book of Deuteronomy (also included in Jewish Torah)|publisher = Bible Gateway|url = https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deuteronomy%2014-14&version=KJV|pages = 14}}</ref>

An [[origin myth]] from the [[Murri people]] of [[Queensland]], cited by [[Andrew Lang]], describes how the [[Australian pelican]] acquired its black and white plumage. The story tells that the pelican was once a black bird. During a flood, he made a canoe to save drowning people. He fell in love with a woman and decided to save her, but she and her friends tricked him and escaped. The pelican consequently began preparing to go to war against them by daubing himself with white clay as war paint. Before he had finished, another pelican, on seeing such a strange [[piebald]] creature, killed him with its beak, and all such pelicans have been black and white ever since.<ref name=":2">{{cite book| author = Lang, Andrew| title = Myth, Ritual & Religion, Volume 1| orig-year=1887|year = 2005| publisher = Cosimo Inc.| location = New York, New York| isbn = 978-1-59605-204-8| pages = 140–41}}</ref>

The [[Moche culture|Moche]] people of ancient [[Peru]] worshipped nature.<ref name=":6">Benson, Elizabeth (1972) ''The Mochica: A Culture of Peru'' New York: Praeger Press.</ref> They placed emphasis on animals and often depicted pelicans in their art.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Berrin, Kathleen |author2=Larco Museum | title = The Spirit of Ancient Peru:Treasures from the Larco Museum| year = 1997| publisher = [[Thames and Hudson]]| location = New York, New York| isbn = 0500018022}}</ref>