Maker

Supreme creator deity recorded among the eastern/Kalabari and Delta Ijaw, where the creator power is often named Tamuno (with the form Temearau emphasising the feminine 'Mother-Maker'). Overlaps in role with Woyengi; treated here as a distinct attested name within the same tradition. Classed as deity.

Domains

• creation
• sky

Powers

• fix the allotted span of each life
• create all things, partly identified with the sky
• give each person a spiritual double (teme) and appoint the destiny chosen before birth

Epithets

• Tamarau Ijaw · Tamarau · cultthe Mother-Maker; feminine form of the creatorMythlok, 'Ijaw mythology'; Grokipedia, 'Kalabari tribe' (secondary)

Sources

• Tamuno (Temearau) is named in Delta-Ijaw tradition as the supreme creator power, sometimes identified or paired with the feminine Great Mother.: P. Amaury Talbot, Tribes of the Niger Delta (Sheldon Press, 1932). (ethnography)