Nharíne Cha Cónhe

Nharíne Cha Cónhe is the principal of the Maleku gods, the tócu maráma, whose seats are the headwater springs of the rivers of the Río Frío basin in northern Costa Rica. He takes his name from the source of the Río Nharíne, the Río Venado in Spanish, which he reserved for himself. In the cosmogony recorded as Laca majifijica, 'the transformation of the earth', he creates the plants, the animals and humankind; after a cataclysm provoked by human misconduct destroys the first humanity, he reflects and creates anew, calling the second humanity, the Maleku, out of the cave Aréfe by casting tobacco seed upon the ground. He then apportions the headwaters of the tributaries of the Río Frío among the tócu who came after him, granting the lagoons of Toro lhámi to his daughter Jáfara, so that each clan would venerate the deity of its own river.

Children

• Jáfara

Domains

• creation of humanity
• river headwaters
• plants and animals

Powers

• to create the first and second humanity from the cave Aréfe
• to apportion the river headwaters among the lesser deities

Epithets

• Nharíne cha cónheAlfredo Constenla Umaña, Gramática de la lengua guatusa, Heredia: Editorial de la Universidad Nacional, 1998. (secondary)

Relations

• lover: Aóre Cha CónheNharíne Cha Cónhe takes Aóre Cha Cónhe, the second tócu to arrive, as his consort, and she bears him a daughter, Jáfara.Alfredo Constenla Umaña, Laca majifijica: la transformación de la tierra, San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 1993. (secondary)

Sources

• Nharíne Cha Cónhe is the foremost creator deity of the Maleku, dwelling at the source of the Río Venado, who alone could create the first and second humanity and who distributed the river headwaters among the other tócu.: Alfredo Constenla Umaña, Laca majifijica: la transformación de la tierra, San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 1993. (secondary); D. A. Solís Aguilar, "Etnografía socioespacial de las territorialidades históricas maleku en Costa Rica," Relaciones: Estudios de Historia y Sociedad, 2022, pp. 45-70. (secondary)