Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player with a huge phallus and feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head. Kokopelli also presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is the trickster god, a healer, a storyteller and represents the spirit of music. The first known images of him appear on Hohokam pottery dating between 750AD and 850AD. Although Kokopelli is associated with Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States, he has recently come to be a logo of the Southwestern United States as a whole.
Kokopelli also presides over the reproduction of game animals, and for this reason, he is often depicted with animal companions such as rams and deer. Other common creatures associated with him include sunbathing animals such as snakes, or water-loving animals like lizards and insects. Because of this, some scholars believe that Kokopelli's flute is actually a blowgun (or started out as one). Alternatively, the "flute" may actually be a pipe for smoking tobacco in a sacred ceremony or some other device entirely. In his domain over agriculture, Kokopelli's flute playing chases away the winter and brings about spring. Many tribes, such as the Zuni, also associate Kokopelli with the rains.
Kokopelli carries unborn children on his back and distributes them to women (for this reason, young girls often fear him). He often takes part in rituals relating to marriage, and Kokopelli himself is sometimes depicted with a consort, a woman called ''Kokopelmana'' by the Hohokam and Hopi. Another story says that he traveled from village to village bringing the changing of winter to spring, melting the snow and bringing about rain for a successful harvest. It is also said that the hunch on his back depicted the sacks of seed sand songs he carried. Legend also has it that the flute playing also symbolized the transition of winter to spring.
Kokopelli's flute is said to be heard in the spring's breeze, while bringing warmth. It is also said that he was the source of human conception. Legend has it that everyone in the village would sing and dance throughout the night when they heard Kokopelli play his flute. The next morning, every maiden in the village would be with child. For this reason, he is also known as the Love God.
Kokopelli tattoos often denote a free spirit. You will find Kokopelli tattoos on musicians, artists and other creative people.
