ǀKaggen
Creation (demi-urge)
AnimalsPraying mantis, bull eland, a louse, a snake, and a caterpillar
Ethnic groupSan
ConsortǀHúnntuǃattǃatte̥n ("Coti")
Offspring!Xo (Porcupine, adopted daughter)
Cogaz
Gewi
Ichneumon

ǀKaggen pronounced IPA: [ǀ͡Kaggen] (more accurately ǀKágge̥n or ǀKaggən,[1] sometimes spelled as Cagn, [ǀaɡən] [2] and sometimes called Mantis) is a demiurge and folk hero of the San people of southern Africa.[3] He is a trickster god who can shape shift, usually taking the form of a praying mantis but also a bull eland, a louse, a snake, and a caterpillar.[4][5]

Shapeshifting

ǀKaggen is a trickster who is able to shape shift into the form of any animal.[6] He is most frequently represented as a praying mantis but also takes the form of a bull eland, a louse, a snake, and a caterpillar.[7][8][6][9] His wife, ǀHúnntuǃattǃatte̥n (sometimes spelled as Coti[2]), is represented as a marmot or rather a Cape hyrax and is known as the mother of bees.[9][8][10] Their adopted daughter is represented as a porcupine.[11]

Eland myth

One of the first animals created by ǀKaggen, and his favourite, was the eland.[12] ǀKaggen's wife ǀHúnntuǃattǃatte̥n gave birth to the eland, and ǀKaggen hid it near a secluded cliff to let it grow.[12] One day his sons, Cogaz and Gewi, were out hunting.[12] Not knowing their father's love for the eland, they killed it.[13] ǀKaggen was angry, and told Gewi to put the blood from the dead eland into a pot and churn it.[14] Blood spattered from the pot onto the ground and turned into snakes.[14] ǀKaggen was displeased. Next, Gewi scattered the blood, and it turned into hartebeests.[14] Again, ǀKaggen was unhappy. He told ǀHúnntuǃattǃatte̥n to clean the pot and add more blood from the eland, with fat from the heart. She churned it, and ǀKaggen sprinkled the mixture on the ground. It turned into a large herd of eland.[14] This was how ǀKaggen gave meat to his people to hunt and eat.[13] The Bushmen attribute the wildness of the eland to the fact that ǀKaggen's sons killed it before it was ready to be hunted, spoiling it.[13][15]

Mongoose (ichneumon) variation

The scholar David Lewis-Williams recounts a variation of the eland myth involving the meerkats. ǀKaggen's daughter the porcupine married the meerkat, kwammang-a.[10] They had the mongoose as a son.[10] The mongoose was close to his grandfather ǀKaggen.[16] ǀKaggen used to take honey to feed his favourite, the eland.[17] The people were curious as to what ǀKaggen was doing with the honey, so they sent the mongoose to spy on him and find out.[17] When the mongoose saw ǀKaggen giving honey to the eland, he reported his discovery to his brothers, the meerkats.[18] While ǀKaggen was out gathering honey, the meerkats persuaded the mongoose to show them where the eland was.[19] They called the eland out of its hiding place and killed it.[19]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Lewis-Williams, J.D. (1990). Discovering South African Rock Art (Southern African Archaeology Series ed.). Cape Town: David Philip. p. 29. ISBN 0-86486-167-2.
  2. 1 2 Woodhouseuse, Bert (1986). When Animals were People. Johannesburg: Chris van Ginsburg Publications. p. 5. ISBN 0-86846-032-X.
  3. ↑ Dorothea F. Bleek, Bushman Dictionary, p. 296, at Google Books
  4. ↑ Bleek (1875) A brief account of Bushman folklore and other texts
  5. ↑ Lewis‐Williams, David (1997). "The mantis, the eland and the meerkats". African Studies. 56 (2): 195-216. doi:10.1080/00020189708707875.
  6. 1 2 Stookey, p.184
  7. ↑ Hastings, p.522
  8. 1 2 Moore, p.113
  9. 1 2 Meletinsky, p.169
  10. 1 2 3 Lewis-Williams (2000), p.143
  11. ↑ Lang, p.38
  12. 1 2 3 McNamee, p.52
  13. 1 2 3 Solomon, p.63
  14. 1 2 3 4 McNamee, p.53
  15. ↑ Lang, p.146
  16. ↑ Barnard, p.84
  17. 1 2 Lewis-Williams (2000), p.145
  18. ↑ Lewis-Williams (2000), p.146
  19. 1 2 Lewis-Williams (2000), p.148

Sources

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