Supreme Being
Yámana · deity · mythic primordial · Recorded classification
Male supreme being, deity-class. Not represented by any idol; known only through oral tradition and prayer. The principal documentation is Martin Gusinde's monograph on the Yamana (1937), based on fieldwork 1918-1924.
Domains
- supreme creator being
- life and death
Powers
- give life and take it away
Epithets
- Watauinewa The Most Ancient One; the supreme being of the Yámana (Yaghan), giver and taker of lifeMartin Gusinde, Die Feuerland-Indianer (the Yamana) (secondary)
Sources
- Watauinéwa is the Yámana (Yaghan) supreme being, the unseen ever-present owner of all things and master of the spirit world who gives and takes life; the people's moral code expresses his will.: Gusinde, Martin. Die Feuerland-Indianer, Band II: Die Yamana, 1937. (secondary)