Wild Woman of the Woods
Kwakwaka'wakw · deity · mythic perennial · Recorded classification
Female; classed as a deity-level supernatural ancestress/ogress. One of the three foremost crests alongside Thunderbird and Sisiutl. Her booming cry 'hu, hu' and pursed-lip mask are iconic.
Children
Domains
- wealth and property
- wilderness and ogres
Powers
- carry off children in a basket on her back
- bestow wealth and chiefly prerogatives on those who overcome her
Relations
- companion: Wild Man of the WoodsReciprocal of kwakwakawakw_bakwas.companion — Male and female wild-beings of the woods, conceptually paired in Kwakwaka'wakw tradition.Franz Boas, Kwakiutl Culture as Reflected in Mythology (1935) (secondary)
Sources
- Dzunukwa is the Kwakwaka'wakw wild-woman ogress, feared as a child-stealing cannibal but also revered as a bringer of wealth; she is an ancestress of the Namgis through her son Tsilwalagame.: Boas, Franz. Kwakiutl Tales, 1910. (secondary); Boas, Franz. The Religion of the Kwakiutl Indians, 1930. (secondary)