The Chameleon
Mundang · numen · Mundang traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
The chameleon of the Ku Tchetche tale is the primordial companion through whom the Mundang are reborn after Pi Bwo devours the first people. Straying into the water jar under which the lone survivor hides, it joins her so that 'they become two on earth'; when she thirsts it gives her water to drink. From this pair the chiefdom's people descend, and the dual division of their polity, the Right made chief and the Left made notable, is traced to them. The being is identified in the recorded tale only by its species.
Domains
- procreation
- water
Powers
- co-founds the people
- gives water to the thirsting girl
Epithets
- le caméléon — the chameleon'Myth of the Origin of the Mundang Chiefdom', Our Mythical Childhood Survey (omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl, item 439) (primary)
Relations
- companion: Ku TchetcheIt joins the lone survivor so that 'they become two on earth'.'Myth of the Origin of the Mundang Chiefdom', Our Mythical Childhood Survey (omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl, item 439) (primary)
Sources
- In the Mundang tale of Ku Tchetche the chameleon is the primordial companion who joins the lone survivor to refound the people and from whom the dual structure of the chiefdom is traced.: 'Myth of the Origin of the Mundang Chiefdom', Our Mythical Childhood Survey (omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl, item 439), recorded by Samuel Fah Lee (primary)