Slayer of the Flying-Canoe Master

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 CanoeToweyre'i, with his kinsmen, killed his elder brother Mokatuboda, the master of the flying canoe, believing he had already learned all of his magic.Malinowski, Bronislaw. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1922, ch. XII. (secondary)
• sibling: Flying Sister of KudayuriToweyre'i and Na'ukuwakula were siblings of the Kudayuri family of the Lukuba clan on Kitava.Malinowski, Bronislaw. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1922, ch. XII. (secondary)

Sources

• Toweyre'i is the younger brother of Mokatuboda in the Kudayuri myth of Kitava, who murdered the master of the flying canoe and thereby lost the full flying magic for humankind.: Malinowski, Bronislaw. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1922, ch. XII. (secondary); 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. (secondary)