Old-One
Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) · deity · Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
The Old-One, also called the Chief, is the highest being of Nlaka'pamux tradition: a creator who exists before the world takes its present form and who sets earth and sky in order. He works chiefly through delegates, sending Coyote and the transformer brothers to travel the land, subdue monsters, and shape the country for the human people who are to follow. Sources differ on how sharply he is distinguished from the transformers themselves, and Teit notes that he is invoked descriptively rather than by a single fixed name.
Domains
- creation and cosmic order
- fate and decree
Powers
- ordains the shape of the world
- sends out world-fixers
Epithets
- the Chief — the Chief (who dwells above)Teit 1900, 'The Thompson Indians of British Columbia.' (primary)
Relations
- ally: CoyoteDispatches Coyote to travel the land and set it right.Teit 1912, 'Mythology of the Thompson Indians': the Old-One commissions Coyote as world-fixer. (primary)
Sources
- The Old-One (the Chief) is the pre-existing creator who orders the world and delegates its finishing to lesser transformers.: Teit, James A. 'Mythology of the Thompson Indians,' Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 12, 1912, cosmogony. (primary); Teit, James A. 'The Thompson Indians of British Columbia,' Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 2, 1900, religion. (primary)