Watákame

Watákame, 'the Clearer of Fields,' is the Huichol first farmer and flood hero, the one man who worked hard and honoured the gods while the world had grown corrupt. Warned by Grandmother Growth, Nakawé, that a great flood would drown the forgetful people, he built a boat and rode out the five-year deluge with a small dog and the seeds of maize, beans and squash together with fire. When the waters fell his dog was transformed into the first woman, and from their union the Wixárika are descended; Nakawé then taught him to plant, harvest and make the proper offerings, so that the whole cycle of Huichol agriculture and ceremony is traced back to him. His deliverance is re-enacted each year at the festival of the new corn and squash.

Domains

• agriculture farming
• ancestry origins

Powers

• to fell the forest and clear the first cultivated field
• to survive the primordial flood in a boat with his dog

Relations

• subordinate to: NakawéAs the one devout mortal he heeds and obeys Grandmother Nakawé, who warns him of the flood, instructs him in building his boat, and afterward teaches him to plant, harvest and make offerings.Zingg, Robert M., The Huichols: Primitive Artists (1938) (secondary)

Sources

• Watákame, the first farmer, is the Huichol flood-survivor culture hero from whom the Wixárika people are descended, saved from the deluge by the warning of Grandmother Nakawé.: Lumholtz, Carl, Unknown Mexico (1902) (secondary); Zingg, Robert M., The Huichols: Primitive Artists (1938) (secondary)