Qoáqɬqaɬ
Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) · deity · Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
The Qoáqɬqaɬ are the transformer brothers who travel as a band through the land, overcoming dangerous beings and giving the country its finished shape. They act in parallel to Coyote, and Nlaka'pamux tellings of them are closely linked to the fuller transformer cycle of the neighbouring Lillooet, from which Teit judged the Thompson to have borrowed much of the story. Sources differ on their precise number, presenting them as a set of brothers who function collectively rather than as sharply individuated actors.
Domains
- transformation
Powers
- transform beings and finish the world
Sources
- The Qoáqɬqaɬ are the traveling transformer brothers who move through the country finishing the world; in Thompson tradition the cycle is shared with and largely derived from the neighbouring Lillooet.: Teit, James A. 'Mythology of the Thompson Indians,' Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 12, 1912. (primary); Teit, James A. 'The Lillooet Indians,' Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 4 (Jesup North Pacific Expedition 2, pt. 5), 1906, transformer cycle. (primary)