Master of the Land of the Dead

In the Kiwai death-lore recorded by Gunnar Landtman, the land of the dead, Adiri, lies far to the west and was originally a barren country inhabited only by the man Adiri and his daughter Dirivo. When Sido, the first man to die, made his way there, Adiri's household received him; Sido married Dirivo, and through his coming the death-land was opened and furnished for the spirits of all who die after him. Adiri thus stands at the head of the Kiwai economy of death as the first dweller and master of the country that carries his name.

Domains

• underworld

Powers

• to receive the spirits of the dead into his western country

Relations

• father of: Mistress of the Land of the Dead

Sources

• Landtman, Gunnar. The Folk-Tales of the Kiwai Papuans (Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae XLVII). Helsingfors: Printing Office of the Finnish Society of Literature, 1917.
• Landtman, Gunnar. "The Wanderings of the Dead in the Folk-Lore of the Kiwai-Speaking Papuans." In Festskrift tillägnad Edvard Westermarck, pp. 59-80. Helsingfors, 1912.
• Lawrence, David. Gunnar Landtman in Papua: 1910 to 1912. Canberra: ANU E Press, 2010.