Pulekukwerek
Yurok · deity · Yurok traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Pulekukwerek, whose name marks him as the 'sharp one from downstream,' is the Yurok monster-slayer and orderer of the world. Traveling through the country, he destroyed or subdued the dangerous beings that menaced the coming human race and fixed customs and observances people were to keep, among them usages surrounding death and the ritual use of tobacco. He is regularly paired with Wohpekumeu, the two representing complementary aspects of the woge's ordering of existence: Wohpekumeu the appetitive fashioner, Pulekukwerek the austere regulator.
Domains
- monster slaying
- world order
- tobacco mortuary
Powers
- slay the dangerous first-age beings
- fix human observances
Epithets
- Pulekukwerek — sharp one from downstreamKroeber, A. L. 1976. Yurok Myths, name gloss. (secondary)
Relations
- ally: WohpekumeuComplementary to Wohpekumeu as the austere orderer beside the appetitive fashioner.Kroeber, A. L. 1976. Yurok Myths, narratives pairing the two culture-heroes. (secondary)
Sources
- Pulekukwerek is the Yurok monster-slaying culture-hero who cleared the world of dangerous beings and instituted human observances, including death customs and the ritual use of tobacco.: Kroeber, A. L. 1976. Yurok Myths. Univ. of California Press, Berkeley. (secondary); Kroeber, A. L. 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. BAE Bulletin 78. (secondary)