Etsa is at once the sun and the mythic hunter-hero of the Achuar. The founding narrative tells how the cannibal ogre Iwia killed Etsa's parents and reared the boy to hunt birds for his table, blowing him back to life each night; grown and enlightened to his captivity, Etsa tricks the ogre, kills him and disgorges from him the birds of the forest, which fly free and repopulate the world. As master of game he is the patron of male hunting: hunters sing anent to him and observe the reciprocity he demands, for the animals are his and are taken only by his leave. His daily transit across the sky orders time, and he stands opposite his brother Nantu, the moon, in the ordering of the heavens.