Atua i Kafika, the Deity of Kafika
Atua i Kafika, 'the Deity of Kafika', is the paramount god of Tikopia and the senior of the four divine brothers who are the eponymous gods of the ranked clans. As now conceived he lived an earthly life as the chief and culture-hero Sako (his name held so sacred it was not uttered), who clothed the people and thereby awoke their minds, made the sacred adzes, and founded the ritual cycle called the Work of the Gods. Killed in a dispute over land, he abjured revenge as he died and, so morally exalted, ascended to the heavens, where the Female Deity cleansed him and he assumed the highest seat among the gods under the deified name Mapusia. As Mapusia, 'the Fear-Causing Chief', he makes the thunder by clattering his staff across the sky, and it was said that no god could supplant him. He held prime ritual responsibility for the yam, the crop said to obey the people of Kafika.
Parentage
Domains
- yam cultivation
- thunder and storm
- kingship and paramountcy
Powers
- to stand supreme above all the other gods of Tikopia
- to make the thunder by clattering his staff across the heavens
- to grant fertility and increase to the yam crop
Epithets
- Te Ariki Fakamataku
- Te Atua i Kafika
Relations
- sibling: Atua i Tafua, the Deity of Tafua
- sibling: Atua i Taumako, the Deity of Taumako
- sibling: Atua i Fangarere, the Deity of Fangarere