Orónhcafa is named, with Jára, as the most important of the maíca maráma, the demons of the Maleku pantheon. In the old Maleku conception there were two places of punishment, one celestial and one terrestrial, both dominated by the maíca maráma. Orónhcafa rules the celestial place of torment, where the souls of those who died of snakebite are taken: he devours them and then expels them through vomit, urine and excrement as shapeless pieces. He stands at the head of the demonic order recorded in the descriptive accounts of the Maleku pantheon.