First Woodcarver

Foregrounded Asmat culture-hero, entered as demigod per the brief. Carving descent from him obliges every wowipits (master-carver). vitalStatus 'deceased'/mythic-past. Orthography varies (Fumeripitsj); native-language exact terms beyond jew/wowipits not securely transcribed in accessible sources, so left blank rather than invented.

Domains

• woodcarving
• origin of humankind

Powers

• carves the first human beings out of wood
• beats a drum to bring his carved figures to life

Epithets

• Fumeripits

Sources

• Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, 'The Asmat'
• Schneebaum, Tobias. Embodied Spirits: Ritual Carvings of the Asmat (Peabody Museum, 1990)