Mother of the Sea
Palauan · deity · primordial · Recorded classification
Palauan progenitrix spirit, here classed as a deity (Micronesian creator-spirit). Native term Latmikaik also names the clam itself in some tellings; primary gloss 'Mother of the Sea'. Her offspring, led by the fish, raised the firmament, after which the sky-god Uchelianged ordered the cosmos.
Domains
- sea creation
- fertility of living things
Powers
- brings forth living things from the sea
Epithets
- Latmikaik The primal mother in the sea who bore the first beings and godsPalauan oral tradition (secondary)
Relations
- ally: First of HeavenReciprocal of palauan_uchelianged.ally — The sky high-god directs the generative work of the sea-mother, whose brood of fish and people fills the primordial ocean.R. E. Parmentier, The Sacred Remains: Myth, History, and Polity in Belau (Chicago 1987) (secondary)
Sources
- Latmikaik is the primal mother who, born from the giant clam on the reef, bore the first beings in the sea.: Krämer, A. (1917-1929). Palau. Ergebnisse der Südsee-Expedition 1908-1910, II.B.3, Friederichsen, Hamburg (ethnography); Flood, B. & Strong, B.E. (2002). Micronesian Legends. Bess Press, Honolulu (reference)