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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