Wounded-Knee Sky-Father
Khoekhoe · deity · primordial / first ancestor of dawn · Recorded classification
Classed as deity. Click symbol ǁ = lateral click; ASCII 'Tsui-//Goab'. Theophilus Hahn (1881) is the foundational source; Hahn argued he was a deified ancestral chief of the dawn.
Children
Domains
- sky and dawn
- rain and thunder
- health and protection
Powers
- sends rain and thunder when his people pray to him
- dies and rises again, returning with the dawn
- wars against and drives off ǁGaunab the lord of darkness
Epithets
- Tsui-ǁGoab The supreme being and ancestor, the red dawn and rain-giver who each year defeats deathTheophilus Hahn, Tsuni-ǁGoam: The Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi (secondary)
- Tsui-||Goab sore/wounded kneeTheophilus Hahn, Tsuni-||Goam: The Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi (1881) (primary)
Relations
- enemy: Lord of Darkness and DeathIn each combat the sky-father overcomes the dark death-power but takes the knee-wound that gives him his name, Wounded Knee.Theophilus Hahn, Tsuni-||Goam: The Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi (London 1881) (secondary)
Sources
- Tsui-ǁGoab is the supreme being of the Khoekhoe (Nama), a sky/rain and dawn deity and ancestor, whose name is most often glossed 'Wounded Knee' (from his fight with ǁGaunab) and sometimes 'Red Dawn'.: Hahn, T., 'Tsuni-ǁGoam: The Supreme Being of the Khoi-khoi' (London, 1881) (secondary); Schapera, I., 'The Khoisan Peoples of South Africa: Bushmen and Hottentots' (1930) (secondary)