Like the Navajo, the Hopi believed that their ancestors had insect form. Some suggest that the humpbacked flute player found widely among the art of many Native American tribes in the southwest is the human form of the cicada. Finally, one group is known to have used medicine that was made from cicadas on their wounded warriors in hopes that the life-lasting power of the cicadas would heal them.
In some cultures, cicadas symbolize immortality. The ancient Greeks observed how the insects emerged from the ground, and then transformed to an adult. This led them to view cicadas as representing death and rebirth. Likewise, in Eastern thought, as far back as 1500 B.C., the shedding of the skin by the nymphs was seen as symbolic of rebirth. During the Han dynasty, cicadas carved from jade were sometimes placed on the tongue of deceased individuals. Scholars have suggested that this was perhaps done with the intention to induce resurrection.
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