Kuat
Kuat is the Sun god according to the Mamaiurans, an Amazon Indian
tribe that lives along the banks of the Xingu river in Brazil. According to
a Mamaiuran legend, at the beginning of time it was always night and the
Indian tribes were forced to live in perpetual fear of attack from wild
animals. The light could not reach the Mamaiurans because the wings of the
birds blocked the sky.
Kuat and his brother Iae decided to steal some light from the vulture god Urubutsin, king of the birds. The two brothers hid
themselves in a corpse, and waited until the birds approached. As soon as
Urubutsin landed on the corpse to eat the maggots that it was supposed to
contain, Kuat grasped the vulture god's legs.
Unable to get away and
deserted by his followers, Urubutsin was obliged to agree that he would
share daylight with the two brothers. To make the light last for long time,
it was established that day should alternate with night. As a result, Kuat
became associated with the Sun and Iae with the Moon.
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