the Ancestral Creator

Ancestral creator / first-ancestor source (deity) of the Herero of Namibia. Attested cult-objects carried in materialCulture: the holy fire okuruwo and the ancestral tree Omumborombonga. Functionally paired with, but distinct from, the sky-god Ndjambi Karunga (see herero_ndjambi).

Domains

• ancestral origin
• blessing fertility

Powers

• bring the first people and cattle from the sacred tree
• answer prayer through the ancestral dead

Epithets

• Mukuru latin · Mukuru · cultThe supreme divine ancestor; the rain-giver and healer who blesses through the holy fireHerero ethnography (H. Vedder, on the Ovaherero) (secondary)

Relations

• ancestor of: the First Man from the TreeVedder, South West Africa in Early Times (1938), on Mukuru and the ancestral tree Omumborombonga (secondary)

Sources

• Mukuru, 'the Old One', is the ancestral creator of the Herero who brought the first people and cattle from the Omumborombonga tree and is worshipped through the ancestors and the holy fire.: Vedder, H. (1928). 'The Herero.' In The Native Tribes of South West Africa. Cape Town: Cape Times. (secondary); Estermann, C. (1981). The Ethnography of Southwestern Angola, vol. 3: The Herero People. New York: Africana. (secondary)
• The Herero distinguish the remote sky-god Ndjambi Karunga from Mukuru and the ancestors, who handle regular petition.: Estermann, C. (1981). The Ethnography of Southwestern Angola, vol. 3: The Herero People. New York: Africana. (secondary)