Aishish
Klamath · deity · Klamath Modoc traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Aishish, spelled Aisis or Aysis in Modoc records, is the son of the creator K'mukamtch and stands beside him at the opening of the Klamath creation account. He is remembered as the handsome young divinity of the pair, and a Modoc narrative collected by Curtin tells how G'mokamc sent him out from their house to seek spirit-power at the various places of the country, an itinerary that maps the sacred geography of the basin. Ethnographic notes on the Lava Beds identify a lava field and small cave as the mythic lodge shared by Kumush and Aisis, anchoring the figure to a specific landscape.
Parentage
- parent: K'mukamtch
Domains
- spirit power and the vision quest
- youth and comeliness
Powers
- to journey through the country gathering spirit-power
Sources
- Aishish (Aisis) is the comely son of the creator K'mukamtch, sent through the land to gather spirit-power and lodged with Kumush in the lava beds.: Gatschet, Albert S., The Klamath Indians of Southwestern Oregon (Contributions to North American Ethnology 2), 1890 (secondary); Curtin, Jeremiah, Myths of the Modocs, Boston: Little, Brown, 1912 (secondary); Deur, Douglas, In the Footprints of Gmukamps, National Park Service, 2008 (secondary)