Slayer of the Flying-Canoe Master
Trobriand · mortal · mythic · mortal
In the Kudayuri myth, one of the central charter myths of Kula seafaring, the headman Mokatuboda of the Lukuba clan built a canoe that flew through the air by his magic, shaming the other men of Kitava whose canoes had to sail. His younger brother Toweyre'i grew resentful and, believing he had already absorbed the whole of the magic, killed Mokatuboda with the help of their kinsmen. When Toweyre'i later built and lashed a canoe of his own, it would not fly: he had learned only part of the system of spells, and the flying canoe was lost to men for ever. The myth was recorded in full by Malinowski and has been much analysed, notably by Stanley Tambiah, as a meditation on male canoe magic and female flying witchcraft.
Domains
- canoe magic
Powers
- to perform the Kudayuri canoe magic, though only in imperfect, partial form
Relations
- slayer of: Master of the Flying Canoe
- sibling: Flying Sister of Kudayuri
Sources
- Malinowski, Bronislaw. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1922, ch. XII.
- Tambiah, S. J. 'On Flying Witches and Flying Canoes: The Coding of Male and Female Values.' In J. W. Leach and E. Leach (eds.), The Kula: New Perspectives on Massim Exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.