The creator god, Tirawa - the Pawnee of the Native American Tribe

Staff Writer


Table of Contents

The religious beliefs of the Pawnee Native American tribe stand out as practices that are primarily Astro-theological and astronomical. As such they use or interpret the laws or culture of the stars to determine when it was safe to plant corn. Accurate calculation of these laws or cultures means a better harvest for the people. They were possible because Tirawa was their causer, teacher, and sustainer.  

Corn is an essential crop that is not only a means of subsistence living for the Pawnee, but it is also a symbolic mother through her, and with her, the sun goddess, Shakuru blesses the people.

The Pawnee

The Pawnee are a North American Indian tribe who originally lived in Nebraska and northern Kansas before finally settling in today’s Oklahoma. Linguistically, they belong to the Caddoan family and call themselves the Chatiks si chatiks, meaning “Men of Men.”

As with many Native American Indian tribes, the Pawnee dwelled as agrarians and hunters while living in South Platte Rivers.

The Pawnee tribe was composed of a few independent bands, namely:

  • Cawi, Chaui, Chawi, or Tsawi, meaning “People in the Middle” are also known as “Grand Pawnee.”
  • Pitahawirata or Pitahauirata, a name that comes from Pita (‘man’) and Rata (‘screaming’), meaning ‘People Downstream’ or ‘Man going East’ but the French referred to them as “Tapage Pawnee” meaning ‘Screaming Pawnee’ and the English Americans called them ‘noisy Pawnee.’
  • Kitkahaki or Kitkehaxki, meaning ‘Little Muddy Bottom Village’ or ‘Little Earth Lodge Village.’ However, they are mostly referred to as Republican Pawnee.
  • Skiri called themselves Ckirihki Kuuruuriki, meaning ‘Look like Wolves People’ but the South Bands called them Ckiiri, meaning ‘Wolf People.’  

Two practices make the Pawnee traditional religion stand out: Astro-theology and astronomy. They believe in the stars and consider some stars as divinities but not creators, that are worthy of offering sacrifices and entreaties, on the one hand, and study the stars, their appearances, occurrences, locations, and laws, on the other which give theological meaning to the sacral significance of the holy corn.

The Holy Corn

The Pawnee women are versatile in corn cultivation. They were known to plant a wide variety of corn, such as flint corn and flour corn. The crown of their corn cultivation was a breed they called ‘Wonderful’ or ‘Holy Corn’ used to replace the corn in the sacred bundles kept for the seasons of winter and summer.  

The cyclical nature of corn cultivation helped them forecast their yearly agricultural cycle since corn was the first crop to be planted and harvested.

The different corn colours, namely white, black, yellow, red, and (spotted, which are not on the list) are linked with the colours of the four semi-cardinal points representing the four major star gods.

Tirawa and the Stars

The Pawnee Astro-theology is considered with their ‘settings in life’ put into perspective.

Atias Tirawa, meaning ‘Our Father Above’ or ‘Great Spirit’ was the creator god who taught the Pawnee how to hunt, build, tattoo, cultivate, make clothing, do religious rituals, and practically everything. Tirawa was believed to have caused celestial and natural phenomena, such as wind, lightning, rain, thunder, stars, and planets. His wife was called Atira, meaning ‘Mother Corn,’ the earth goddess.

The Pawnee have a strong belief in the activities of the Morning and Evening Stars whose mating gave birth to the first Pawnee woman while the mating of the Moon (Pah) and Sun (Shakuru) gave birth to the first Pawnee man. They attributed their being to Tirawa who holds their being, and through his plan helped in bringing the first humans into being.

Up until the 19th century, the Pawnee offered captive girls to the Morning Star as ritual sacrifices to ensure that their lands remained productive, bumper harvests for their crops, and new life and success in wars.

Culture of the Stars

In their traditional way, they were scientific in reading and interpreting the position of the stars to help them determine the right time of the season for planting their crops. They not only read the position of the stars, but they also offered corn to the stars because they so much believed in the powers of some stars and the science of meteorology.

Also, the Pawnee sought assistance from several animals in their culture, hence, they believed that Tirawa gifted miraculous powers to certain animals, and the nahurac, meaning ‘spirit animals’ acted as Tirawa’s messengers, intercessors, and servants.

From above, the Pawnee believed so much in the stars, moon, and sun. These celestial bodies played important roles in their settings in life. Tirawa was their creator and sustained them with corn as well as pumpkins, beans, and squashes.  

  

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