For the
Cahuilla
The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.[cosmological
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...]
values and concepts were established when the world was created by
Mukat. The Cahuilla creation story tells of the origin of the world, the death of god (Mukat), and the consequences of that death for humans (e.g., the need for death, social roles, and so forth). It also describes the basic concepts of supernatural power and its proper use in the contemporary world.
At the beginning of creation, all creatures were said to be much larger than they were today. These were called ''nukatem''. Over time, the nukatem stopped being active and shrank, turning into natural objects such as mirages, rainbows, earth and other things.
Deities
* Kutya'i – Spirit of wind, mischievous, nocturnal, steals clothing.
* Menily – Lunar deity
* Mukat – Creator.
*
Muut
Muut was the personification and messenger of death in the culture of the Native American Cahuilla people of southern California and northern Mexico, and was usually depicted as an owl or as the unseen hooting of owls. He was one of the most act ...
–
Psychopomp
Psychopomps (from the Greek word , , literally meaning the 'guide of souls') are supernatural creatures, spirits, entities, angels, demons or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afte ...
, often depicted as an
owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
.
* Pemtemweha – Protector of animals, often seen as a white deer.
* Sungrey – Medicine, founded the spring
Agua Caliente (Hot Water) in the desert.
*
Taqwus – A
trickster god
In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...
, he comes out at night to steal souls and cause mischief.
Creation
The creation myth of the Cahuilla is fairly expansive, such that almost all of their mythological figures and norms are included in the tale. In the creation, Mukat and Temayuwat were born from the union of twin balls of lightning, which were the manifestations of ''Amnaa'' (Power) and ''Tukmiut'' (Night).
Mukat and Temayuwat began a creative contest, in which Temayuwat was bested and fled with his ill-formed creation below the earth.
Mukat taught his people the art of fighting with a bow and arrow, which incurred their displeasure. On account of this, they consorted with the Frog to bewitch him. Upon his death, he taught the people mourning ceremonies and a proper form of funerary ritual (by cremation). Along with initiatory rites during puberty, these rites form the essential corpus of Cahuilla religious observance.
Ritual cremation
The Cahuilla response to death was a six night affair intended to mark the passing of a member of the community and put an end to grief. The Cahuilla seem to have had a practical view of death that included it as a necessary component of their world. It was held annually during the winter months, and its date fluctuated according to supplies and internal factors.
Commonly, these rites took place in a large structure called the ''kis-amnawut'' (roughly translated as house power-great)).
The ritual for the dead was interwoven with other aspects of Cahuilla life; it wasn't until the fourth day of the mourning ritual, for example, that infants of the tribe would be publicly named.
See also
*
Cahuilla traditional narratives
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cahuilla Mythology
Cahuilla
Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of North America