142 ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OF GUIANA INDIANS [eth. axn. 30 



brethi'en— still privileged to live near, and to converse with them, 

 though changed into kuriaka parrots (BrB, 179). 



The Warrau version of their own origin is very similar. Okonorote 

 one day went hunting for a rare bird — in those times the Warraus 

 lived up above the sky and the only creatures they knew of were 

 birds — and it was many a long day before he succeeded in locating 

 it, though he did so at last. Letting fly an arrow he transfixed it, 

 but on rushing up to the place where it had fallen, there was notliing 

 visible but a big hole in the gi'ound tlu'ough wliich he could see the 

 deer, peccary, and other animals disporting themselves on the green 

 plains below. With the help of a cotton rope he descended to earth, 

 and saw jaguars, snakes, and wild beasts devouring their prey. He 

 shot a young deer, cooked the flesh, and fuiding how sweet it tasted, 

 took some of the flesh back with liim on his ascent up the rope, home 

 again. Needless to say, all the Warraus were only too eager to 

 accompany him when he repeated his descent, wliich they did in 

 safety, one after the other until the very last — and this happened 

 to be a woman who got wedged in the aperture, and could neither 

 get up nor down. The hole being thus filled up, the Warraus have 

 never been able to reach their old home again (BrB, 55). The name 

 of this woman who thus stuck half-way is Okona-kura, the Warraus 

 still recognizing her as the Morning Star. 



Certain of the Salivas did not hesitate to proclaim themselves 

 cliildron of the Sun (G, i, 11-3). 



52. In those cases where man, as such, put in Ms fu'st appearance on 

 this world's stage {i. e., as in many other places was created on the 

 earth) there is no evidence available pointing to the existence of any 

 belief that his creation took place out of nothing, either spontane- 

 ously or at the instance of some Master Spirit, or some person, or tiling. 

 Indeed, the two or tlu-ee examples wliich might be claimed in support of 

 the existence of such evidence are very dubious. Schomburgk notes an 

 Arawak tradition, which I can not find elsewhere, that man was created 

 by Kururumanni, and woman by KuHmina (Sect. 1.9); he mentions 

 also that the former was subservient to Aluberi, the Supreme Spirit 

 (ScE, II, 319). Among the Maipures of the Orinoco, however, it -was 

 the Su]>rerae Being Purrunaminari who created man, but the traveler 

 just cited admits that the above tradition, among others reported 

 by Gili, shows a seemhigly evident admixture of Chiistian ideas 

 (ScK, II, 320). So also does the alleged Akawai legend that Maku- 

 nainia, admittedly the Supreme Being, put his son, the first man, 

 in charge of all the other animals that he had just made (BrB, 126). 

 On the other hand, the Indian seemingly can conceive of man's origin 

 only from sometliing already existing in the world of nature imme- 

 diately surrounding him. And so, in considermg the reputed origins 



