Ipiak
Achuar · numen · Achuar traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Ipiak is the mythic origin of annatto (Bixa orellana), the shrub whose seeds give the bright red paste with which the Achuar redden face and body. She is the companion of Sua in the paired origin tale of the dye plants, in which two women are transformed, one into the red annatto and one into the black genipa, so establishing the two colours of body-painting that mark ritual, celebration and the display of the warrior. The story is among the Jivaroan transformation myths that root everyday materials of adornment in the acts of primordial persons.
Domains
- body paint
Powers
- became the annatto that reddens the body
Epithets
- Ipiak nua — the annatto-womanSiro Pellizzaro, Mitos shuar: Sua e Ipiaku (Mundo Shuar) (secondary)
Relations
- sibling: SuaPaired companion of Sua; the two women become the red and black dye plants.Siro Pellizzaro, Mitos shuar: Sua e Ipiaku (Mundo Shuar) (secondary)
Sources
- Ipiak is the mythic woman who became the annatto plant that yields red body-dye, paired with Sua the genipa.: Siro Pellizzaro, Mitos shuar: Sua e Ipiaku (Mundo Shuar) (secondary); Elke Mader, Metamorfosis del poder (Abya-Yala, 1999) (secondary)