First Man of the Ngaju Creation Myth

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 God
• spouse: First Woman of the Ngaju Creation Myth

Sources

• Schärer, Hans. Ngaju Religion: The Conception of God among a South Borneo People, trans. Rodney Needham. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1963.
• Schiller, Anne. Small Sacrifices: Religious Change and Cultural Identity among the Ngaju of Indonesia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.