Jumkuklaai, the Sun

Jumkuklaai, the Sun, is personified in Nivaclé narrative as a being who crosses the sky and whose light and heat order the rhythm of the day. Eclipses were understood as an attack upon the sun by a celestial predator, prompting communal noise-making to drive the aggressor off.

Domains

• sun

Powers

• crosses the sky giving light and heat

Sources

• Seelwische, José, Diccionario Nivaclé-Castellano (1990).
• Métraux, Alfred, 'Ethnography of the Chaco,' Handbook of South American Indians, vol. 1 (1946).