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Albuquerque Chapter
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There is no evidence that Kokopelli ever played the organ. On the other
hand, there is no proof that he didn't.
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Kokopelli, (often spelled Kokopeli) the hunchback flute player, is a very popular figure in the Southwestern United States. He is often depicted in ancient petroglyphs, including those near Albuquerque. Today, you can buy Kokopelli earrings, bracelets, sand paintings, and many other products.
Our logo was created for the program of the Region VII Convention of the AGO, which our chapter hosted in 1993. It was drawn by Jay Nelson in consultation with chapter Director and Librarian Barbara Johnson. Barbara contributed this historical note:
In 1598, twenty-two years before the first colony was established in New England, Spanish explorers and missionaries established the first of several permanent settlements in present-day New Mexico. Franciscan friars zealously began their work of civilizing and converting the Indian peoples in the royal colony of New Spain, as the region was known. By the middle of the seventeenth century, they had built at least twenty-seven mission churches where, in general, music was regarded as a highly successful tool in Christianizing the Indians. Historical accounts describe instruction in singing and instrumental playing, the use of polyphony, and the use of instruments to double voice parts; and by one account, seventeen churches had organs.
The 1993 Region VII Convention logo, designed by graphic artist Jay Nelson, symbolizes the meeting of the Pueblo Indian and European cultures in New Mexico in the early seventeenth century.
The kachina Kokopelli as the organist, with his "mana" or wife as his assistant, represent an historic Pueblo deity usually associated with fertility and the harvest. Kokopelli, most often depicted playing a flute, has been found on rock art, on pottery, and in oral tradition.
The primitive instrument played by Kokopelli represents the type of organ probably found in many New Mexico missions from about 1600 to 1680. In 1680, the Pueblo Indians rose up against their Spanish governors and church leaders, drove the colonists out of New Mexico, and burned or otherwise destroyed all vestiges of Spanish influence.
Twelve years passed before the Spaniards returned to New Mexico. The Spanish colonial period ended in 1821, when New Mexico came under Mexican rule. Between 1846 and 1850, the United States gained New Mexico as a territory, and in 1912, as the forty-seventh state.
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