Mastamho, sometimes also referred to as ''Mustamho'', is the creator deity of the first Mohave people along the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

and Colorado Desert. Mastamho is the grandson of the Earth Mother (in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

referred to as Pachamama) and the

Sky father In comparative mythology, sky father is a term for a recurring concept in polytheistic religions of a sky god who is addressed as a "father", often the father of a pantheon and is often either a reigning or former King of the Gods. The conc ...

. He was the son of Matavilya and had a sister, Frog Woman, and a brother, Kaatar. Mastamho is pictured on the Blythe Intaglios with stretched arms, which indicates that he protects his people from destruction.

References

Native American mythology of California Deities of the indigenous peoples of North America Mohave {{NorthAm-myth-stub

See also

References