Ancestor of the Huli

Culture-hero / apical ancestor (ancestral-progenitor tier), rendered demigod as offspring of the creator pair and progenitor of human lineages. Versions of the genealogy vary (Glasse vs. later Hela-nation accounts); the constant is Hela as common ancestor of the Tari-region peoples. Vital status given as deceased: an ancestral man rather than an undying god.

Parentage

• Creator-Mother
• Sky-Father

Domains

• ancestral origins
• agriculture

Powers

• FATHER the related Highlands peoples

Relations

• sibling: Moon
• sibling: Malevolent God
• sibling: Firstborn God
• sibling: Sun
• sibling: Piandela

Sources

• Glasse, R.M. (1965). 'The Huli of the Southern Highlands.' In Lawrence & Meggitt (eds.), Gods Ghosts and Men in Melanesia. Oxford University Press.
• Ballard, C. (1995). The Death of a Great Land. PhD thesis, ANU.