Maker of Humanity

Desana/Tukano (Vaupés). English 'Maker of Humanity' leads; Desana Pamurí-mahsë ('mahsë' = man/person; the morpheme pamurí relates to the migration/anaconda-canoe). A culture-hero/emissary figure ranked demigod per the schema (culture-hero tier), subordinate to and sent by the Sun-Father. Variant spellings Pamuri-mahse / Pamúri-mahsë across editions.

Domains

• creation of mankind
• ancestral migration

Powers

• lead humanity up the river in the Snake-Canoe
• leads the first humanity up the rivers in the living Snake-Canoe to settle the Vaupés

Relations

• companion: Sun-FatherSent by the Sun Father as helmsman of the anaconda-canoe that carried the first people up the rivers to people the land.G. Reichel-Dolmatoff, Amazonian Cosmos (Chicago 1971) (secondary)

Sources

• Pamurí-mahsë is the male emissary of the Sun-Father, the 'creator of people' who brought the ancestors up the rivers in the Snake-Canoe (pamurí-gahsíru) and then returned to his subterranean/invisible dwelling.: Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo (1971). Amazonian Cosmos: The Sexual and Religious Symbolism of the Tukano Indians. University of Chicago Press. (secondary); Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo (1968). Desana: Simbolismo de los indios Tukano del Vaupés. Bogotá: Universidad de los Andes. (secondary)