Kwayu
Mojave (Mohave) · numen · Mojave (Mohave) traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Kwayu is a man-eating monster of Mohave lore, associated with the meteor or fireball that streaks the desert sky. Described as a great cannibal ogre, he devours human beings and is the antagonist of hero-tales in which he is at last destroyed. His name is given to the shooting star, and children were warned of him.
Domains
- monsters
- sky
Powers
- devours human beings
Epithets
- kwayú — the meteor, the shooting-star ogreA. L. Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, BAE Bulletin 78 (1925), pp. 771-775. (secondary)
Sources
- Kwayu is a man-eating monster of Mohave lore associated with the meteor or fireball, destroyed in hero-tales.: A. L. Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, BAE Bulletin 78 (1925), 'The Mohave,' pp. 771-775. (secondary); A. L. Kroeber, More Mohave Myths, Anthropological Records 27 (University of California Press, 1972). (primary)