Kokopelli-like figure: You're just jealous

The News:

A state park today moved a statue of a humpbacked flute player over objections the figure was offensive because it is anatomically correct.

Edge of the Cedars State Park moved the sticklike figure from the front to the back of a museum where it can't been seen from the street, said park manager Teri Paul. . . .

Blanding resident Harold Lyman told The Salt Lake Tribune, which first reported the controversy, that he supported moving the statue. Lyman objected to the phallic symbol, saying that because it isn't always depicted on rock art it's not an essential part of the image.

Bluff resident Susan Dexter was among those who favored leaving the sculpture in place.

"Give me a break. It's not like a massive erection like some of the ones you see on the panels. It's nothing like that," Dexter told the Tribune. . . .

Couldn't find a pic that showed a "massive" erection, dammit.

The flute player is a Hopi clan symbol that's often confused with the ancient fertility god Kokopelli [because it looks exactly like it]. Tribal elders specifically asked the park to make the distinction clear to visitors, Paul said. The statue depicts an image commonly found on rock panels in southern Utah, a man believed to be announcing the arrival of spring with a flute.

Not-Kokopelli and his wang.

Originally I just wanted to point out how ridiculous it is to call the figure "anatomically correct," dinkleheimer-equipped or not. Maybe for a space alien. But then I found this:

The fact that Kokopelli (it's not Kokopelli! Jesus. (it's not Jesus, either)] is depicted so often as having a hump and erect phallus has led some scientists to believe that he suffered some kind of physical deformity. G.B. Webb, after analyzing several petroglyphs and pictographs asserts beyond a doubt that Kokopelli suffered from Pott's disease. Pott's disease is a form of tuberculosis, which causes a disfigurement of the spine (kyphosis), a permanently erect phallus, and sometimes
club-foot. . . .

So academician G.B. Webb is able to diagnose a (probably) symbolic figure from highly stylized images. Beyond a doubt, yet. Is there nothing science can't do?

Anyway, probably a good time to mention that I'll be on our somewhat annual river trip through Not-Kokopelli's neighborhood from October 13th through the 19th. Man, I haven't been out of this one-horse cowtown since the DNC, so I am red. ee.