Katés, the Star-Woman
Nivaclé · numen · Nivaclé traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Katés, the Star-Woman, belongs to the widely told Chaco tale of the celestial wife: a star descends from the sky in the form of a woman and marries a mortal man, in some tellings bringing knowledge of cultivated plants. The narrative is one of two distinct Nivaclé accounts of where women came from, the other deriving them from fish. Sources differ on whether the descending women first arrived to steal food from lone men or came expressly as brides.
Domains
- celestial bodies
- origin of women
Powers
- descends from the sky as a woman
Sources
- Katés, the Star-Woman, belongs to the Chaco tale of the celestial wife in which a star descends as a woman and marries a mortal man, one of two Nivaclé accounts of the origin of women.: Wilbert, Johannes & Karin Simoneau (eds.), Folk Literature of the Nivaklé Indians (1987). (secondary); Métraux, Alfred, 'Ethnography of the Chaco,' Handbook of South American Indians, vol. 1 (1946). (secondary)