Saila Maaso

Saila Maaso, 'little brother deer,' is the sacred deer whose home is the sewa ania, the flower world beneath the dawn in the east, and who ranges the huya ania, the wilderness world. He is the foremost being of the flower world and the presence summoned by the maso bwikam, the deer songs sung to the deer dancer; the songs narrate his movement among flowers and dew at daybreak. Also called Sea Yoleme, 'flower person,' he embodies the flower world's beauty and renewal, and Yaqui thought carefully holds him apart from the figure of Christ even while recognizing their shared association with the sewa ania.

Domains

• wilderness
• flowers

Powers

• bears the blessings of the flower world into the ceremony

Epithets

• saila maaso — little brother deerLarry Evers and Felipe S. Molina, Yaqui Deer Songs / Maso Bwikam (1987). (primary)

Sources

• Saila Maaso, Little Brother Deer, is the sacred deer of the sewa ania (flower world) invoked in the maso bwikam deer songs.: Larry Evers and Felipe S. Molina, Yaqui Deer Songs / Maso Bwikam (1987). (primary); Edward H. Spicer, The Yaquis: A Cultural History (1980), on the aniam and the deer. (secondary)