Reef Founder
Pohnpeian · demigod · mythic age · Recorded classification
Pohnpeian founder-settler culture-hero; classed as demigod. Native term Sapwkini. Gloss 'Reef Founder'. The Book of Luelen makes him and his canoe-company the first to raise land on Pohnpei, the act memorialized in the island's name (pohn-pei).
Domains
- land building
- seafaring settlement
Powers
- raises the island upon the submerged reef
Sources
- Sapwkini led the first settlers by canoe, guided by the octopus Litakika, and built up Pohnpei from a submerged reef, raising the founding altar that names the island.: Bernart, L. (1977). The Book of Luelen (trans. Fischer, Riesenberg & Whiting). Pacific History Series 8, Australian National University Press, Canberra (ethnography); Hambruch, P. (1932-1936). Ponape. Ergebnisse der Südsee-Expedition 1908-1910, II.B.7, Friederichsen, Hamburg (ethnography)