First Man of the Ngaju Creation Myth
Dayak · mortal · primordial / creation · Recorded classification
In the Ngaju Dayak creation myth of southern Borneo, recorded most fully by Hans Schärer, the primeval age culminates in the battle of two hornbills in the Tree of Life; from the debris of that cosmic tree arise the first man, Manyamei Tunggul Garing Janjahunan Laut, and the first woman. Their sons become the ancestors of the sangiang spirit beings and of humankind.
Children
- Ancestor of Mortal Humankind
- Ancestor of the Sangen Heroic Beings
- Ancestor of the Sangiang Spirit Beings
Domains
- primordial humanity
Powers
- to father the ancestral lineages of gods, spirits, and humankind
Relations
- subordinate to: Upperworld GodThe first man owes his existence and fate to the supreme upperworld god Mahatala (Ranying Hatalla).Schärer, Hans. Ngaju Religion: The Conception of God among a South Borneo People. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1963. (secondary)
- spouse: First Woman of the Ngaju Creation MythHusband of Kameloh Putak Bulau, the first woman; together they beget the three primordial brothers.Schärer, Hans. Ngaju Religion: The Conception of God among a South Borneo People. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1963. (secondary)
Sources
- Manyamei Tunggul Garing is the first man of Ngaju Dayak cosmogony, husband of the first woman and father of the three primordial brothers.: Schärer, Hans. Ngaju Religion: The Conception of God among a South Borneo People, trans. Rodney Needham. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1963. (secondary); Schiller, Anne. Small Sacrifices: Religious Change and Cultural Identity among the Ngaju of Indonesia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. (secondary)