K: Ka’ahupahau to Kuskurza 161
Kuksu
Revered by South America’s Maidu and Pomo Indians as the creator of the world,
he later, in response to the wickedness of mankind, set the Earth ablaze with celes-
tial flames, then extinguished the conflagration with an awful deluge. Such native
versions, while similar to the biblical version, differ importantly with the addition of
a “fire from heaven” immediately preceding but inextricably bound to the flood.
A North American tribe known by the same name told of a turquoise house
on a large island, long ago, on the other side of the western horizon. Before it was
gradually engulfed by the Pacific Ocean, sorcerers who lived in the house took
ship for California, where their descendants still make up a shamanistic society
among the Kuksu.Kumari Kandam
In Tamil tradition, the “Land of Purity,” a sophisticated kingdom of high learn-
ing, south of Cape Comorin, in the distant past. Like Mount Atlas, after which
Atlantis derived its name, Kumarikoddu, the great peak of Kumari Kandam, gave
its name to the “Virgin Land.” During a violent geologic catastrophe, Kumarikoddu
collapsed into the Indian Ocean, dragging the entire island kingdom to the bottom
of he sea. Survivors migrated to the subcontinent, where they sparked civilization
in the Indus Valley.
(See Mu)Kumulipo
A Hawaiian creation chant in which the kumu honua, or origins of the Earth,
are described in connection with a splendid island, where humans achieved earlyLowland Yucatan pyramid dedicated to Votan, a flood hero from the Maya version of
Atlantis, Valum.