The Maze of History : Komal Hok, O'odham Teachings, and an Earth-Based Sense of Time

A major contribution to O’odham studies and Southwest history, Martínez offers a new perspective on the life and knowledge of Komal Hok, an important Akimel O'odham storyteller also known as “Thin Leather.” The Maze of History refers to the man-in-the-maze symbol that has adorned O’odham baskets for generations.According to O’odham oral tradition, the maze is the home to I’itoi, “our elder brother,” the sacred being that taught ancestral O’odham their way of doing things, their himdag.Moreover, I’itoi’s home is in the mountains everywhere that O’odham dwell, be it South Mountain, Baboquivari, or Sierra Pinacate. Komal Hok (born ca. 1827), also known as Thin Leather, was an Akimel O’odham elder and storyteller from Sacaton Village who shared his people’s origin narrative with anthropologist Frank Russell, archaeologist Jesse Walter Fewkes, and writer J.William Lloyd. With the help of translators Jose Lewis Brennan and Edward H.Wood (both O’odham), Komal Hok created an epic legacy that c