ABQjournal: Prof Sheds Light on Origins of Kokopelli By David Steinberg, Journal Book Editor

“Kokopelli— The Making of an Icon”
By Ekkehart Malotki
University of Nebraska Press, $19.95, 161 pp.

Kookopölö, he says, is a Hopi kachina from which the name kokopelli is taken.

The image of the fluteplayer in rock art first appeared in the Four Corners area about A.D. 800 and died out about A.D. 1600. …

Malotki says the image that is most widespread today is from Hohokam pottery fragments from southern Arizona that date from about A.D. 1000. “The reason for this predilection appears obvious: It is ‘safe,’ for it lacks the exposed genitals,” he writes.