Snína
Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) · numen · Nlaka'pamux (Thompson) traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Snína, the Owl, is a being of night and dread in Nlaka'pamux tradition, invoked as the taker of children who wander or refuse to sleep after dark. As both a figure of tale and a name spoken to discipline the young, the Owl embodies the danger of the night forest; its hoot was heard as an omen and its appearance in story is uniformly menacing.
Domains
- night and dread
Powers
- carries off disobedient children
Sources
- The Owl, Snína, is a dreaded night being who carries off children and functions as a disciplinary bogey in Thompson belief and story.: Teit, James A. 'The Thompson Indians of British Columbia,' Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 2, 1900, beliefs and children's lore. (primary); Teit, James A. 'Mythology of the Thompson Indians,' Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 12, 1912, Owl tales. (primary)