Undersea Chief

Male sea-deity. Identified with Qaniqilak, spirit of the summer season; counterpart and seasonal opponent of the winter-season Thunderbird. Cognate with the wider Northwest Coast undersea-chief figure.

Domains

• tides and the sea
• wealth of the sea
• weather and storms

Powers

• govern the tides from a copper house beneath the sea
• Command the seals and sea-mammals
• Bestow the wealth cast up by the sea

Epithets

• Qaniqilak Kwak'wala · Qaniqilak · altspirit of the summer seasonF. Boas, Kwakiutl Tales (secondary)

Relations

• rival: ThunderbirdReciprocal of kwakwakawakw_thunderbird.rival — Winter thunder-being opposed seasonally to Qaniqilak, the summer spirit identified with the Undersea Chief.Franz Boas, Kwakiutl Culture as Reflected in Mythology (1935) (secondary)

Sources

• Komokwa (Kumugwe), the Undersea Chief, is god of the tides and maker of coppers who bestows wealth and supernatural treasures; he is often identified with Qaniqilak, the summer spirit and adversary of the Thunderbird.: Boas, Franz. The Religion of the Kwakiutl Indians, 1930. (secondary); Boas, Franz. Kwakiutl Tales, 1910. (secondary)