Atira ( ), literally "our mother" or "Mother (

vocative In grammar, the vocative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numeral ...

)", is the title of the earth goddess (among others) in the Native American

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

tribal culture. She was the wife of Tirawa, the creator god. Her earthly manifestation is corn, which symbolizes the life that Mother Earth gives. Atira holds a significant place in the spiritual beliefs of the Pawnees of North America, where she is revered as

Earth Mother A mother goddess is a major goddess characterized as a mother or progenitor, either as an embodiment of motherhood and fertility or fulfilling the cosmological role of a creator- and/or destroyer-figure, typically associated the Earth, sky, a ...

. Esteemed for her nurturing and protective qualities, Atira symbolizes the very essence of life that springs from the earth. The

people consciously chose to prioritize hunting over farming. They believed that the act of

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, particularly plowing, disrespected her sacred nature and disrupted the balance of the natural world. Instead, they honored Atira by living in harmony with the land, deriving their sustenance from the wild bounty of the fields and forests. Atira is considered the Sacred Mother of all life, with her influence most profoundly felt in the untouched landscapes that flourish with vitality and growth. The goddess was revered in a ceremony called ''Hako''. The ceremony used an ear of corn (maize) painted blue to represent the sky and white feathers attached to represent a cloud as a symbol of Atira. Her daughter was Uti Hiata who taught the Pawnee people how to make tools and grow food.

Legacy

163693 Atira 163693 Atira (; Minor planet provisional designation, provisional designation ) is a stony asteroid, dwelling in the interior of Earth's orbit. It is classified as a near-Earth object. Atira is a binary asteroid, a system of two asteroids orbiti ...

, the first asteroid known to have an orbit entirely within that of Earth (and itself namesake of the class of

Atira asteroid Atira asteroids or Apohele asteroids, also known as interior-Earth objects (IEOs), are Near-Earth objects whose orbits are entirely confined within Earth's orbit; that is, their orbit has an aphelion (farthest point from the Sun) smaller than Ear ...

s), is named for Atira. * Atira Mons, a mountain on Venus, is named for Atira. * Atira is included among the women listed in the Heritage Floor of

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

The Dinner Party ''The Dinner Party'' is an installation artwork by American feminist artist Judy Chicago. There are 39 elaborate place settings on a triangular table for 39 mythical and historical famous women. Sacajawea, Sojourner Truth, Eleanor of Aquitaine, ...

References

Earth goddesses Goddesses of the indigenous peoples of North America Pawnee {{NorthAm-myth-stub