Hayuya

Hayuya is a sky deity of the Muscogee (Creek), the brother of Yahola and, with him, the most prominent of the four Hiyouyulgee who dwell in the air and clouds. The names Yahola and Hayuya together form the paired ceremonial cry sung over the sacred fire and the black drink. Hayuya is a guardian of those undergoing training in mysticism and the medical arts; with the other Hiyouyulgee he is said to have appeared to the ancient Creek upon a thundering mountain near the Red River and to have taught them the use of fire and of medicinal and other plants, endowing them with strength and inspiration. He shares with Yahola the patronage of the Busk Ground ceremonies.

Domains

• medicine and mysticism
• busk ceremony

Powers

• to guard those undergoing training in mysticism and the medical arts
• to teach the use of fire and of medicinal and other plants

Epithets

• HayuyvJohn R. Swanton, 'Social Organization and Social Usages of the Indians of the Creek Confederacy,' in Forty-Second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, 1928. (secondary)

Relations

• sibling: YaholaHayuya and Yahola are brothers, the two chief Hiyouyulgee, joined in the paired ceremonial cry and in their guardianship of the Busk and of Creek sacred knowledge.Bill Grantham, Creation Myths and Legends of the Creek Indians, University Press of Florida, 2002. (secondary)

Sources

• Hayuya is a Muscogee sky deity, brother of Yahola and one of the four Hiyouyulgee, a guardian of those trained in mysticism and medicine and a teacher of fire and plant lore at the Busk.: John R. Swanton, 'Social Organization and Social Usages of the Indians of the Creek Confederacy,' in Forty-Second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, 1928. (secondary); Bill Grantham, Creation Myths and Legends of the Creek Indians, University Press of Florida, 2002. (secondary)