Sigu

Sigu is the flood hero of the Akawaio branch of the Kapon peoples. In the narrative recorded by the missionary William Henry Brett and later analysed by Walter Roth, Sigu, son of the creator Makonaima, directs the animals after the felling of the marvellous tree that bore all cultivated plants; when the stump gushes forth a deluge he seals the burrowing creatures in a cave, takes the birds and climbing animals up a tall kokerite palm, and drops seeds into the darkness to judge when the waters have receded. Later tradition tends to transfer to Sigu heroic exploits that older texts ascribe to Makonaima himself.

Parentage

• parent: Makonaima

Domains

• flood and deluge
• cultivated plants

Powers

• to shelter animals and preserve the seeds of all plants through the deluge
• to distribute the fruits and cultivated plants that grew from the tree of life

Relations

• subordinate to: MakonaimaSigu acts as the son and agent of the creator Makonaima, carrying out the ordering of animals and plants after the felling of the world tree.Walter E. Roth, An Inquiry into the Animism and Folk-Lore of the Guiana Indians, 1915. (secondary)

Sources

• Sigu is the Akawaio culture hero and flood survivor, son of the creator Makonaima, who preserved animals and plant life through the great deluge caused by the felling of the tree of life.: W. H. Brett, Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal Indians of British Guiana, 1880. (secondary); Walter E. Roth, An Inquiry into the Animism and Folk-Lore of the Guiana Indians, 30th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1915. (secondary)