Spider Old Woman is a mythological heroine of the Hopi Indians. The two stories
you have here ("The Four Worlds and the Emergence" and "The Races at
Tsikuvi") illustrate Spider Old Woman's leadership style, which differs in important
respects from those we have studied so far.
As the introduction to the case notes, the basis for Hopi social structure was the
matrilineal clan (a family group headed by the oldest woman and her female descendants).
If Spider Old Woman is considered the ideal clan leader, what does this tell us
about the Hopi's understanding of the ideal leadership style?
