The Jaguar

The Jaguar is the great predator of Nivaclé myth, at once feared hunter and, in the mythic age, a keeper of coveted goods such as fire, which is wrested from it for humankind. A jaguar-like beast of the sky is also blamed for eclipses, seizing the sun or moon until people make noise to frighten it away.

Domains

• predation
• fire origin

Powers

• keeps fire until it is wrested away
• seizes the sun or moon in eclipse

Sources

• Wilbert, Johannes & Karin Simoneau (eds.), Folk Literature of the Nivaklé Indians (1987).
• Métraux, Alfred, 'Ethnography of the Chaco,' Handbook of South American Indians, vol. 1 (1946).