Shakaim

Shakaim is the male forest-being of the Shuar and Achuar, the creator of the trees of the jungle and the patron of men's work. Inspired by the fertilising rain, he embodies the strength and dexterity required for felling timber, clearing the swidden, and the other heavy tasks that are men's responsibility, just as Nunkui embodies the women's domain of garden and pottery. The two are paired in Shuar thought as the archetypal married couple, and a man undertaking forest work may invoke Shakaim in song to obtain his vigour and skill.

Domains

• forest and trees
• mens clearing and work

Powers

• to give men strength and skill for clearing the forest and heavy labour

Epithets

• Shakaim ShuarSiro M. Pellizzaro, Shakaim: la vida del hombre, Mundo Shuar serie F (Sucúa: Centro de Documentación, Investigación y Publicaciones, 1978). (secondary)

Relations

• spouse: NunkuiShakaim, who teaches men forest and clearing work, and Nunkui, who teaches women garden and household work, are described in the ethnography as the paradigmatic married couple and the divine archetype of complementary male and female labour in Shuar society.Siro M. Pellizzaro, Shakaim: la vida del hombre, Mundo Shuar serie F (Sucúa: Centro de Documentación, Investigación y Publicaciones, 1978). (secondary)

Sources

• Shakaim is the male Jivaroan forest-being who created the trees of the jungle and gives men the strength and skill for clearing, felling, and the heavy work of cultivation.: Siro M. Pellizzaro, Shakaim: la vida del hombre, Mundo Shuar serie F (Sucúa: Centro de Documentación, Investigación y Publicaciones, 1978). (secondary); Elke Mader, Metamorfosis del poder: persona, mito y visión en la sociedad shuar y achuar (Quito: Ediciones Abya-Yala, 1999). (secondary)