"In this book, the Hopi scholar 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 Kookopolo and Maahu, the cicada, and discusses how this rock art image has been appropriated and misunderstood.

Kokopelli 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."--BOOK JACKET.