Spider Grandmother

Spider Grandmother (Hopi Kokyangwuti, Navajo Na'ashjé'ii Asdzáá) is an important figure in the mythology, oral traditions and folklore of many Native American cultures, especially in the Southwestern United States.

It is also noted that anthropologist Fred Eggan found this version to be close to the Zuni creation myth.

Spider Grandmother guides the creatures on their journeys through the worlds as their physical appearances change to be more human.

With the help of the Pokanyhoya and the Chipmunk, Spider Grandmother advised and led the people to the upper world where they would reside.

Coyote and his grandmother are searching for this missing woman while her husband is taking care of their children at home.

[4] In The Village at Lamehva (How the Reed Clan Came to Walpi), Spider Grandmother guides her two grandsons who are both named Pakanghoya to create people out of mud.

Later in the story, she changes into her spider form and crawls into the ear of the second runner to give her advice on how to avoid the traps set by the Tsikuvi village.

After spending a few days in her home, Tiyo starts his journey to the Far-Far-Beyond river accompanied by "Spider Woman".

[5] In Navajo mythology, Spider Woman (Na'ashjé'íí Asdzáá) is the constant helper and protector of humans.

[8] Spider Woman is also said to cast her web like a net to capture and eat misbehaving children.

In another myth, two women come to "Spider Woman" hoping for a solution to help the Navajo people bear the winter.

[12] Karl Taube in 1983 tentatively connected the South Western "Spider Woman" mytheme with the pre-Columbian Teotihuacan "Great Goddess" known from pictorial representations.

[23] Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett's fantasy novel Warspell: The Merge (December 2018) references the Spider Woman narrative.

[24][25] The Book The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness compares Grandmother Spider, Hecate, and Hestia as strong female characters.