Shakaim is the spirit-master of the standing forest and the patron of the specifically male labour of opening a garden. Where Nunkui rules the planted, tamed ground, Shakaim rules the felling of the tall timber that precedes planting, and men address anent to him for the strength, dexterity and protection that clearing demands. Myth casts him as one who can make felled trees rise again, an image of the forest's power to renew itself and of the measured reciprocity the Achuar owe it. Sources differ on whether he and Nunkui are simply complementary tutelaries of the swidden or a married couple.