Kanassa

Kanassa America
In Kuikuru mythology, the creator deity and the bringer of fire. At the beginning, relate the Kuikuru Indians of the Xingu Riber in Brazil, Kanassa could not see what he was doing. He drew a ray in the mud at the water's edge, but as it was dark, he could not see and stepped on his own drawing and was stung by it. As soon as the ray had hurt him, it plunged into the water. In anger Kanassa said: ‘I just made her, and already she has wounded me. It's all the firefly's fault, because he doesn't give any light.’ Then he remembered the king vulture, ugwvu-cuengo, was the master of fire. So he devised a plan—and like the sun god Kuat in Kamaivran tradition—Kanassa seized one of the bird's legs and obliged it to bring down an ember from the sky. Although the frogs tried to squirt water over the flames of the fire that Kanassa made, the sacred light was not lost and a serpent helped the god to carry it safely away from the lagoon.

[The entire page is 188 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass