Classed as a deity; a culture-hero/transformer cognate with Haida Yáahl and Tlingit Yéil. Boas's extensive Kwakwaka'wakw corpus is the principal documentation.
Domains
light and fire
tides and sea bounty
Powers
bring the sun, moon, and fire to people
steal and release the sun, moon, and daylight from their hoarders
release the salmon and set the rhythm of the tides
change his shape to deceive and to transform the primordial world
Epithets
U'meł
Sources
Boas, Franz. The Religion of the Kwakiutl Indians, 1930.