Buzzard
Akimel O'odham (Pima) · numen · Akimel O'odham (Pima) traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Buzzard, or Vulture (Ñui), is a great shaman of the early world. While the newly made earth still lay soft, he is said to have flown low across it, and the drag of his wingtips carved the mountains, ridges, and valleys of the Gila country. In the saga of Elder Brother he is the being commissioned to kill the culture hero after Elder Brother's rule has become unbearable; drawing down the concentrated heat of the sun, Buzzard succeeds where others have failed. He is closely associated with the sun's course and with the shaping powers of the sky.
Domains
- earth shaping
- death
- sun
Powers
- carve the land with his wings
- draw down the killing heat of the sun
Relations
- ally: Earth DoctorJ. William Lloyd, Aw-aw-tam Indian Nights (1911). (primary)
- enemy: Elder BrotherDonald Bahr et al., The Short, Swift Time of Gods on Earth (1994). (primary)
Sources
- Buzzard shaped the mountains of the Gila country by flying over the soft new earth.: J. William Lloyd, Aw-aw-tam Indian Nights (1911). (primary)
- Buzzard is the shaman who slays Elder Brother with the sun's heat.: Donald Bahr et al., The Short, Swift Time of Gods on Earth (1994). (primary)