| ǀKaggen | |
|---|---|
Creation (demi-urge) | |
| Animals | Praying mantis, bull eland, a louse, a snake, and a caterpillar |
| Ethnic group | San |
| Consort | ǀHúnntuǃattǃatte̥n ("Coti") |
| Offspring | !Xo (Porcupine, adopted daughter) Cogaz Gewi Ichneumon Gaunu-tsaxau[1] |
ǀKaggen (more accurately ǀKágge̥n or ǀKaggən,[2] sometimes corrupted toCagn[3] and sometimes calledMantis) is ademiurge and folk hero of theSan people ofsouthern Africa.[4] He is atrickster god who canshape shift, usually taking the form of apraying mantis but also a bulleland, alouse, asnake, and acaterpillar.[5][6]
ǀKaggen is atrickster who is able to shape shift into the form of any animal.[7] He is most frequently represented as a praying mantis but also takes the form of a bulleland, alouse, asnake, and acaterpillar.[8][9][7][10] His wife, ǀHúnntuǃattǃatte̥n (sometimes spelled as Coti[3]), is represented as amarmot or rather aCape hyrax and is known as the mother ofbees.[10][9][11] Their adopted daughter is represented as aporcupine.[12]
One of the first animals created by ǀKaggen, and his favourite, was theeland.[13] ǀKaggen's wife ǀHúnntuǃattǃatte̥n gave birth to the eland, and ǀKaggen hid it near a secluded cliff to let it grow.[13] One day his sons, Cogaz and Gewi, were out hunting.[13] Not knowing their father's love for the eland, they killed it.[14] ǀKaggen was angry, and told Gewi to put the blood from the dead eland into a pot and churn it.[15] Blood spattered from the pot onto the ground and turned into snakes.[15] ǀKaggen was displeased. Next, Gewi scattered the blood, and it turned intohartebeests.[15] 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.[15] This was how ǀKaggen gave meat to his people to hunt and eat.[14] 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.[14][16]
The scholarDavid Lewis-Williams recounts a variation of the eland myth involving themeerkats. ǀKaggen's daughter the porcupine married the meerkat,kwammang-a.[11] They had themongoose as a son.[11] The mongoose was close to his grandfather ǀKaggen.[17] ǀKaggen used to takehoney to feed his favourite, the eland.[18] 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.[18] When the mongoose saw ǀKaggen giving honey to the eland, he reported his discovery to his brothers, the meerkats.[19] While ǀKaggen was out gathering honey, the meerkats persuaded the mongoose to show them where the eland was.[20] They called the eland out of its hiding place and killed it.[20]