Cosmic Bear Ancestor
Evenki · demigod · mythic age · Recorded classification
Culture-hero / first-ancestor tier (classed as demigod: a half-man, half-bear primordial). Counterpart-hunter to the elk Heglun in the cosmic-hunt myth. The bear cult (address amaka, ritual apology before the kill) is the lived correlate of this figure.
Domains
- first ancestor
- the hunt
Powers
- chases the cosmic elk across the sky to win back the sun
- embodies the kinship of humans and the bear as first ancestor
Relations
- enemy: Cosmic ElkIn the cosmic hunt the bear-ancestor eternally pursues the elk who carries off the sun, restoring daylight.A.F. Anisimov, 'Cosmological Concepts of the Peoples of the North', in H.N. Michael (ed.), Studies in Siberian Shamanism (1963) (secondary)
Sources
- Mangi is the Evenki cosmic bear of dual man-animal nature, the first ancestor, who hunts the heavenly elk on skis and is placed in the sky, his track becoming the Milky Way.: G. M. Vasilevich, 'Early Concepts about the Universe among the Evenks', in Studies in Siberian Shamanism, 1963 (secondary)