Galleries : Undying Tales 2021 : UT 8 - Desert Tortoise
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DESERT TORTOISE - 6.5x6.5 inches $225.00 SOLD
Gopherus agassizii Status: Endangered - population decreasing due to urban expansion, mining, and diseases introduced by pet tortoises released into the wild. The creator, called Mastamho by the Mojave people, was descended from the Earth and the Sky. He made people, crafting a son and daughter from his own body and from whom all other people were born. Along the banks of the Colorado river, he made a home for his children, giving them crops to grow: corn, tobacco, and mesquite, and teaching them how to plant and tend them. When Mastamho created other living beings, they were much alike and very similar to humans in appearance. He did not know what each might specialize in. He had them compete, running, jumping, swimming, and as they did so, he determined which would run on legs, which would fly, and which would swim, and then he went among them all and gave them names: birds, dogs, fish, reptiles. The land and its creatures are revered. The desert tortoise is one of these significant creatures, and features heavily in the song storyscapes that the Mojave tell of their origin, history, travel routes, and celestial events. The stories tell of Spirit Mountain, from where people first came, and to where they will return upon death. The physical mountain itself is Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, and the mountain and its surrounding areas are sacred to the Mojave as well as a dozen other tribes, and it is home to the desert tortoise. Sources:
Size: 7 x 7 inches Detail closeups:
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