Zenith

The Zenith-being is, in Bogoras's words, 'the chief' of the benevolent beings sacrificed to (taaronyo vairgit). The Chukchi call it 'being-a-crown' (kana'irgin) or 'middle-crown' (ginon-kana'irgin); it resides at the apex of the sky, and Mid-day, the Sun and the Pole-Star are each 'often identified with the middle-crown' without being reduced to it. Distinct from the Creator (Tenanto'mwan), it heads the spatial system of directional Beings; it is classed here as a deity with no attested divine parent.

Domains

• the zenith
• supreme being

Powers

• stands as chief over the benevolent Beings sacrificed to
• occupies the 'middle-crown' at the very top of the sky

Epithets

• ginon-kana'irgin

Relations

• companion: Mid-day
• companion: Nail-Star

Sources

• Waldemar Bogoras, The Chukchee, Part II 'Religion' (Jesup North Pacific Expedition VII / Memoirs AMNH XI), 1907, p. 303
• M. A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia (Oxford, 1914), Part III 'Religion,' ch. XIII
• Ülo Siimets, 'The Sun, the Moon and Firmament in Chukchi Mythology,' Folklore 32 (2006): 129–156