Mythology Book

260

K

óoch, whose name means

“sky,” was the Tehuelche

creator, believed to have

always existed. For a long time, he

lived alone among the dark clouds

in the east because there was no

sun. Realizing how solitary he was,

the creator wept. He cried for so

long and so hard that he created

the ocean, the first element of the

natural world. He then sighed

deeply; his breath became the

winds that dissipated the dark

clouds and created twilight.

Surrounded by the dimly lit

ocean, Kóoch wanted to see the

world. He rose up into space but

could not see any more clearly. He

reached out a finger to scratch at

the shadows. As he did so, a bright

spark leaped from his hand and

became the sun, lighting up the

ocean and the sky.

After Kóoch had created the

wind, the clouds, and the light, he

pulled an island up from the bottom

of the ocean. He populated it with

all kinds of animal-people, made

Tehuelche paintings of animals,

hunters, and human hands, in the

Cueva de las Manos, or "Cave of the

Hands," in Patagonia, Argentina,

date back to ca. 7000 bce.

THE CREATOR

OF THE WORLD

HAS ALWAYS EXISTED

THE SKY MAKES THE SUN AND EARTH

IN BRIEF

THEME

Creation of the world

SOURCE

Folk Literature of the

Tehuelche Indians, Johannes

Wilbert and Karin Simoneau,

1984.

SETTING

The beginning of the world

in the mythology of the

Tehuelche hunter-gatherers

of Patagonia.

KEY FIGURES

Kóoch The creator, a being

who brought about the ocean,

the sun and the moon, and

the stars.

Nóshtex A monstrous giant

created by the night; father

of Elal.

Cloud-woman Raped by

Nóshtex; mother of Elal.

Elal A friend of animals,

and creator of the Tehuelche

people.

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THE AMERICAS 261

Tehuelche youths dance, wearing

feather "horns," to celebrate a girl's

reaching puberty. Depicted by English

explorer George Chaworth Musters in

At Home with the Patagonians (1871).

See also: Cherokee creation 236–37 ■ The legend of the five suns 248–55 ■ Viracocha the creator 256–57 ■

The first canoe 258–59

birds and insects that flew through

the air, and filled the ocean with

fish. The sun sent light and heat,

and the clouds brought rain.

Sun and moon

Seeing how dark the island was

after the sun had gone to sleep,

Kóoch put the moon into the sky.

At first, the sun and moon were

unaware of each other, but the

clouds soon spread the word

and carried messages between

them. They longed to meet, but

when they did, they wrestled for

three days, arguing over who

should travel the sky by day.

As they fought, they became

lovers, and the sun scratched

the moon’s face.

Night was displeased by the

light and incensed by their

lovemaking, so he brought forth

monstrous giants. One was

Nóshtex, who raped a cloud-

woman and fathered Elal, whom

Kóoch declared would be greater

than his father. Nóshtex then killed

the cloud-woman, whose blood can

still be seen at sunrise, believing

that she had brought a curse

on him. Nóshtex wanted to eat

the baby he had ripped from her

womb, but Elal was saved by his

grandmother, the field mouse,

who arranged for him to be taken

away from the island to safety

on the mainland.

Creating the Tehuelche

Elal inherited the supernatural

powers of Kóoch, and made a new

home in Patagonia, where he took

all the animal-people from the

island where he had been living.

They were pursued by the giants,

but Elal defeated them all,

including his father Nóshtex, just

as Kóoch had foretold. Elal created

the Tehuelche people from sea

lions, gave them the gift of fire,

and taught them how to survive.

Then he left them, to live in the

sky forever. ■

It was when the

moon wrestled the sun,

and when this world

was made.

Folk Literature of the

Tehuelche Indians

Elal and Karro

The evening star, Karro,

was the daughter of the sun

and moon. She was also

sometimes portrayed as a

siren. The mythical hero Elal

fell in love with her and flew

up to the stars on the back of

a swan to ask Karro to marry

him. After Elal passed many

tests, Karro's parents agreed

to the union and the two were

married. Elal later turned

Karro into a mermaid; she

lived in the sea and created

the tides for her mother, the

moon. Her songs played an

important part in religious

rites. After that, Elal lived in

the stars, waiting for the souls

of the Tehuelche when they

died. They were guided to him

by the good spirit, Wendeuk,

who kept account of people's

deeds, and told Elal all the

things they had done in life.

The dead were transformed

into stars, and they looked

down from the sky on those

they had left behind.

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