Uto-Aztecan Mythology

The level of which colonization has affected cultures varies among the different indigenous peoples of the Aridoamerica region (Northern Mexico and Southwestern United States). Of interest to me is the reconstruction of [Proto-]Uto-Aztecan (PUA) mythology. Below is my attempt to reconstruct the Southern PUA pantheon based on linguistic cognates and the surviving elements of pre-columbian mythology in modern indigenous communities.

DeityGrandfather FireGrandmotherFather SunMother EarthMother MaizeMother MoonElder Brother Morning StarYounger Brother Evening Star
Other common attributesCreationMother of gods; CreationDismembered bodyNight sky, Underworld, WatersEast, Guardian of the stars
CoraTayasu Uxu’uTayá’u XükáTananaTatei NakesariTatei Tahete Uakan / TatewanTaha’a tu Vasta Ha’atsikan / TahatsiTaha’a Tupari Sautari
WixaritaTatevaríNakawéTawexíküa

Tayéu

Takáü
NakawéTatei NiwetsikaTamatsí

Máxa yuawí ‘Blue Deer’
RaramuriOnorugameIyerugameChirisopori
‘Morning Star’
(lit. ‘Hidden-Star’)
Arisopori
‘Evening-Star’
YoemeAchai O’olaAchai Taa’aMala Meecha
MexikaXiuhtecuhtli ‘Lord of Fire’

Huehueteotl ‘The Old God’

Tōnacātēcuhtli ‘Lord of Sustenance’
Toci
 
Tōnacācihuātl 
‘Lady of Sustenance’
Tonatiuh
‘The Sun’

Piltzintecuhtli
‘Child Lord’ God of Rising Sun
Tlaltecuhtli ‘Lord/Lady of the Earth’ 
[dual-gender deity]
Chicomecóatl
‘Seven Snake’
Metztli
‘The Moon’
Tlāhuizcalpantēcuhtli
‘Lord of the Dawn’

Quetzalcoatl ‘Feathered Serpent’
Xolotl

Nanahuatzin
‘Full of Sores’

Elder Brother is an almost universal figure among Uto-Aztecan peoples. This deity tends to straddle the worlds of the gods and people, often actively teaching people. For tribes that were converted to Catholicism, this figure often became associated with Jesus Christ. Elder Brother is also known as the Morning Star, and is associated with the morning appearance of the planet Venus. In addition to the communities listed in the table, Elder Brother is found in the mythology of the O’odham people as Si’ehegǐ ‘I’itoi.