Alhkuntam is the supreme deity of Nuxalk cosmology, the maker whose will animates the creation. Dwelling in Nusmata, the House of Myths in the upper world, he directs the four supernatural carpenters to carve the first human beings and to fashion the animals and landscape. He is the patron of the great masked dance complexes and the ultimate source of ceremonial prerogative. Sources differ on the relationship between Alhkuntam and the Sun: Boas and McIlwraith describe them as distinct residents of the House of Myths who occupy its rear, while some popular accounts identify Alhkuntam himself as a solar being, reflecting his close association with the Sun's household. His mother was the cannibal being who was ultimately transformed into the mosquito.