Uktena
Cherokee · deity · mythic · Recorded classification
Great horned serpent thick as a tree-trunk, scales blazing like fire, a diamond crest on its brow; said to have been a man transformed in a failed attempt to kill the Sun. The conjurer Aganunitsi slew one and won the Ulun'suti divining-crystal.
Domains
- monsters
Powers
- Daze and draw prey toward the blazing crest on its brow
- Be wounded only by a shot to the seventh spot from the head
Relations
- enemy: UnelanuhiA man transformed to slay the hostile Sun; he failed where the Rattlesnake struck first, and in his anger became the dreaded horned serpent.James Mooney, Myths of the Cherokee (1900), no. 5 'The Daughter of the Sun' (primary)
Sources
- existence: Mooney, Myths of the Cherokee (1900) (primary)