Sky-Rattlesnake
Mojave (Mohave) · numen · Mojave (Mohave) traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Sky-Rattlesnake is a great serpent of the southern sea summoned by Mastamho during the ordering of the world. Called to the sacred house at Avikwame to furnish the powers of curing, the serpent came northward along the Colorado; in the telling he is killed, and from his severed body and scattered substance the shamans' healing knowledge and the dangers of sickness are derived. Sources record the being chiefly under a translated title, and native forms of the name vary.
Domains
- healing
- water
Powers
- yields the power of curing
Relations
- enemy: MastamhoSummoned and then killed by Mastamho.A. L. Kroeber, Seven Mohave Myths, Anthropological Records 11, no. 1 (1948). (primary)
Sources
- A great serpent of the southern sea is summoned by Mastamho to the sacred house at Avikwame and killed, and from its body the powers of curing and the dangers of sickness derive.: A. L. Kroeber, Seven Mohave Myths, Anthropological Records 11, no. 1 (University of California Press, 1948). (primary); A. L. Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, BAE Bulletin 78 (1925), pp. 770-771. (secondary)