Unmasking AIT

[Husky]

Post 5/ Africa part 2 and Native American Iroquois



(Previous post ended with Ghana's Snake God with multiple heads who could regrow severed heads - like the hydra! - and which required maidens to be sacrificed to it and which got killed by a human aiming to be the hero of his love-interest/next sacrificial selection. <= "PIE in Ghana". Actually, magical giant snakes [occasionally demanding women/sacrifice] - who may or may not get done in by a hero/God - are a common feature of African religion, as seen in this and final post.)



b. Uganda



digital.library.upenn.edu/women/baskerville/king/king.html

THE KING OF THE SNAKES

AND OTHER FOLK-LORE STORIES FROM UGANDA



THERE is a beautiful village near the Great Lake, called Kalungu. The houses nestle into the banana gardens, and there are sunny little courtyards with lemon and guava trees and pawpaw-trees heavy with fruit. The little boys who herd the goats on the hill-sides have no fear, for everything is peaceful and happy.



But once upon a time Kalungu[ was a very sorrowful place, for a big snake called Sesota lived on the hill-side and came down every day to the village and caught people and ate them.



Then a poor peasant man, called Waswa, came to the Council and said: "Sirs, I will kill Sesota"; and they offered him spears and big hunting knives, but he refused them all and said: "Give me a large water-pot and some blue beads and some brass and ivory bracelets and a ring, and I will go and kill Sesota."



So they gave him all he asked, and he set out on his journey, his little son carrying the water-pot with the other things inside it; and as he walked he played this tune on his reed pipe:



Sesota, Sesota, King of the Snakes,

Beautiful presents I bring.

The King of Uganda has sent me to-day

With bracelets and beads and a ring.



As he neared Kalungu the old snake on the hillside heard him corning, and because snakes are very fond of music he listened gladly and sang back:

[...]

And so they lure it into the waterpot to get it to see its gifts (no soma, food or wine this time, but a bed and jewels), lull it to sleep rather than intoxicate it but same principle, close the waterpot, and then

the King commanded the people to make a bonfire, and they burnt Sesota the great snake.

- Not quite a "cosmic" struggle here either, but "Sesota King of the snakes" lived near Great Lake Kalungu, ate people living nearby (no demand for human sacrifices in this case, it caught and ate them actively by coming down to their village every day)

- But was lured into a trap by "gifts" and subterfuge and then killed

- Not killed by hero, but caught by hero. Killed by community collective.

- Not described as a giant snake, but a "big snake". However, it is "magical" in the sense that it sings back in a human/intelligible tongue what's more



Snake king Sesota near Kalunga (so easy to mistype as Kalinga or even Kalinaga) leads to a brief divergence from Africa to move to Dominica's indigenous Kalinago people (which is probably pronounced very differently again):

caribbeanbookblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/the-snake-king-of-the-kalinago-dominicas-kalinago-children-celebrate-their-culture/

A group of Kalinago children from Dominica has done something quite remarkable. They got together and wrote a storybook based on an ancient Kalinago legend which, from all accounts, is receiving rave reviews, even from fans as far away as the UK.

The book is called The Snake King of the Kalinago and it was written by students from the Atkinson Primary School with illustrations by teenagers from the Carib Territory in Dominica. The Kalinago (erroneously called Caribs) are descendents of Dominica’s first indigenous settlers. They live on a 3,700 acre territory on the island’s east coast that was set aside for them in 1903. They number approximately 3,500 and elect their own chief who holds the position for 4 years.

The Snake King of the Kalinago tells the story of Bakwa, a great diamond-crested snake with magical powers which slithers out of the sea and goes to live in a cave in the mountains of Dominica. When Maruka, a Kalinago farmer goes to see him, Bakwa uses his powers to grant Maruka his wishes. Then strangers arrive and everything changes.

- Would a farmer ask for agricultural favours? This is mere guessing of course, haven't read the story.

- Still the tradition speaks of a "great snake",

- and magical snake what's more, capable of granting wishes, whose original home was the sea.

- It says the Snake King of Kalinago had specifically moved in from the sea into a cave to live there. The Korean giant serpent also lived in a cave, so did the giant snake in the Chinese folktale that was slain by Li Ji (one of its intended female sacrifical victims), and the dragon in the Italian folktale about princess Fantaghiro also lived in a cave. Maybe this is something that giant sea serpents (and dragons) are sometimes thought to do: move onto land from the sea and live in caves?







c. Namibia

orangesenqurak.com/people/people+of+the+basin/beliefs/watersnake.aspx



Snake that controls the water in a watering hole. It's spirit beckons a maiden to self-sacrifice, failing that, the waterhole refuses to yield water and the nation suffers. The maiden sacrifices herself at last and it yields plenty of water again.

History and Water Related Culture: Stories:

The Water Snake



This story from the Nama people in Namibia, is taken from 'The Stolen Water and Other Stories: Traditional Tales from Namibia', by Jennifer Davis (1993). It has been reproduced with kind permission from Gamsberg-MacMillan Books and New Namibia Books, Namibia.



Long long ago, in the land of Nama, there lived a husband-and wife with their two daughters. The older daughter, Abas, was admired by everyone for her beauty and goodness. Every day, like all the other girls of the village, the two sisters fetched water from the waterhole at' the foot of the hills.

There was plenty of water in the hills so the people were happy and prosperous. Their herds were fat and healthy a fid their crops were the best in the land.

One morning, Abas and her sister arrived first at the water hole. As Abas filled her pot, a voice called to her from the water.

Abas, I have chosen you. Come to me. The girl dropped her pot in fright. ''Did you hear that, little sister?" ''Yes, but there is no one here. Who can it be?" Again the voice called out across the water.

Abas, I have chosen you. Come to me. A giant snake rose from the water. Yellow foam streamed from his green scales and he breathed out tongues off flames.



<she tries to avoid it the first time, it reappears and expresses the same insistent expectation>



The worried parents went to the chief for advice. The chief called all his people, who had by this time heard the story, and led them down to the waterhole.

When the villagers arrived at the waterhole, they stared in horror. It was as dry as dust! Messengers were sent out to all the springs and streams, but they all reported that there was no water anywhere. The chief then turned to his people. ''It is said by our forefathers that if the water snake calls a maiden, she must obey! Now we have been cursed. Without water we will be destroyed. Let us return to our homes and gather our things. At sunrise we must leave this place."

The people wept in despair. Abas saw the sorrow of her nation and knew what she must do. She knelt before her family for their blessing. Then, tall and graceful, she walked down the path to the waterhole, watched by the silent villagers.

Early the next morning, the family of Abas hurried down to the valley. What they saw filled them with fear for Abas. The waterhole was overflowing. The springs in the hills were gushing down to the valley below. They called out for Abas. Again and again they called, but there was no reply. Abas was gone forever.

- giant fire-breathing snake - sounds like it may be a dragon.

- controls water supply/drought

- human sacrifice of maiden - self sacrifice in this case - expected, and they have a tradition to this effect. Else his "curse" in the form of drought ensues.

- no "hero" kills the snake - it's not considered 'evil' or to be killed. Rather, people accept that a self-sacrifice is expected to get water and plenty in return. [She might not be dead: there are African traditions that these Snake Gods choose wives. See next post]

The giant snake could simply BE the river again (as dragons in E Asia often are).





d. Africans - like so many other populations - have River Gods looking like Sea creatures too (dragon! snake! fish! All in one!)



Zambezi River God:

Controlling flood, drought/protection against famine (compare with how River Gods in Japan, China are dragons or snakes etc thought to control floods, drought etc). Here the River God only started causing floods to prevent a dam built by the alien terrorists, but was benign to his people, as was his wife.





safariafrica.co.za/tourist-attractions/nyaminyami.htm

Here is the story to be told about Nyaminyami, the Zambezi River God. He has a body like a snake and a head like a fish and no one knows how big he is, for he never showed himself in full display. But he is very big! The people of Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe were protected by Nyaminyami, their ancestral spirit (Mudzimu), who fed them from his own meat in times of hunger.

(That last: perhaps it means plenty of fish/sea game available from his body of water?)



The people pledged their allegiance to him by performing ceremonial dances. For many years Nyaminyami and his wife stayed safely at Kariba, the spot which was their home and near that spot, that's where it all began. One season when Nyaminyami's wife had gone down the mighty Kariba Gorge to other people of the Valley to answer their prayers and bless her people, the white man came to build a wall.

It took five long years to see it through because Nyaminyami did not want to be disturbed. He caused some floods and loss of life, but at last he was kind enough to let the wall to be all complete. It is also believed that the occasional earth tremor felt in the lake surroundings is caused by this spirit. It was the work of the Tonga elders and their medium spirits to persuade the Nyaminyami to allow the Zambezi to be tamed.

But Shame! Nyaminyami was separated from his wife. When the wall was completed he was downstream, and now cannot get back upstream. Legend has it that he will only reappear to his people one he meets with wife again.

Great bodies of water are considered sacred, for water is essential for the life of the village in an often arid land. Wherever there is water, the Africans find prosperity. The Nyaminyami is the ruler of water and his symbol is worn to ward of the forces of darkness and to attract wealth.

[...]

The Tonga themselves have inhabited both banks of the Zambezi River in what was known as the Gwembe Trough (from Kariba Gorge upstream to Devil's Gorge) for centuries and in themselves have an interesting history. Prior to David Livingstone's work in the area around 1855/7 the Tonga were at the constant mercy of slaving parties and wild animals. Between then and the mid 1950's they lived in relative peace with very little outside influence - their contact with the "outside world" was limited to prospectors, hunters, surveyors and the local District Commissioners.

In the mid 1950's life changed with the decision to proceed with the construction of the Kariba dam wall. Another chapter in the Tonga history was started.



Nyaminyami has supposedly been seen on occasion by locals - much like the Loch Ness Monster however, hard evidence is elusive. He is described by some as looking like a whirlwind - the majority say he's dragon-like with a snake's torso and a fish's head. The legend of Nyaminyami has several tales.

The story of the dam wall construction and the floods in 1957 and 1958 are well documented.

The local story goes as follows:

+ Whilst the waters of Lake Kariba were only just rising and the Tonga were being relocated they invoked Nyaminyami in a spirit of resistance.

+ Although he was never used as a political symbol it was generally agreed that he disapproved of the white man's plans to build the dam.

+ In 1957 when a 1000 year flood was recorded on the Zambezi, construction was halted and set back by flood damage.

+ The locals nodded knowingly and waited for the final destruction during the next rainy season.

+ This of course nearly happened with the 1958 flood which was only slightly less violent than the previous year.

+ Elders today claim that it was only their intervention which placated Nyaminyami.

+ In Kariba there are still occasional earth tremors from the load of the lake on the earth's surface.

+ Locals claim that this is Nyaminyami who at the time of the sealing of the dam wall was philandering down stream towards Mana Pools

He's now very lonely and only the destruction of the dam will reunite him with this wife.

5. A Native American case: Iroquois



archive.org/stream/serpentworshipin211hamb/serpentworshipin211hamb_djvu.txt

(Christo-colonial book on Snake Worship in Africa, with brief survey of occurrences elsewhere)

It is said, however, that the Hopi hold the most sacred dance of this kind when there are no alien spectators. There is processional dancing with rattlesnakes between the teeth, keeping of snakes in a sacred edifice, and liberation of the reptiles toward the four cardinal points when the rites are concluded. The ceremony is intended to assure a supply of rain.

In the Iroquoian myth the monster is a horned serpent which swallowed the thunder boy, who was eventually rescued by Thunder and his warriors.

- Definitely rain/drought control in the first. Implication of weather control in the second.

- No snake monster in the first, just serpent worship

- Second one does involve a Thunder God - all the way in the Americas - and his warriors, facing a serpent in order to retrieve a swallowed "thunder boy".

Thunder and warriors (thunder's echoes?) being the one that does the rescuing seems to imply that rain will ensue. Could be Dragon blocking the moon/something preventing the rains again.

Alternatively, the horns may to point to something more tangibly significant. As seen in the final post.



But I wonder how the PIEs got to the Americas to instill PIE motifs into indigenous native Americans?