Hatuibwari
Sa'a & Ulawa · deity · Sa'a & Ulawa traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Hatuibwari is a primordial serpent-being of the south-east Solomons, imagined as a winged snake with a human head, four eyes and a woman's breasts – a nurturing ancestress from whom living things descend. She is recorded principally for the Arosi of San Cristoval and is known on Malaita, and is widely identified with the Ulawa creator-snake Kahausibware, the two being local names for the maternal creator of the figona class. As 'the mother' she is associated with the bringing-forth and suckling of the first beings.
Domains
- creation
- primal ancestry motherhood
- serpents and snakes
Powers
- engenders and suckles the first beings
Sources
- Hatuibwari is a primordial serpent-being of the south-east Solomons, described as a winged snake with a human head, four eyes and a woman's breasts, from whom living things descend.: C. E. Fox, The Threshold of the Pacific (1924), chapters on religion and origins. (primary)
- Recorded chiefly for the Arosi of San Cristoval and known on Malaita, she is widely identified with the Ulawa creator-snake Kahausibware, the two being local names of the maternal creator of the figona class.: W. G. Ivens, Melanesians of the South-East Solomon Islands (1927); C. E. Fox, The Threshold of the Pacific (1924). (primary)