Sunday, 29 March 2009
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The Creation Myth
Summary:
Miraden, a female deity shaped the world and the first creatures lived on it. She fashioned human beings from mud. Having done this, she placed the sun between the earth and the sky and brought forth daylight. Miraden’s brother, Tulus, also known as Meketefu and Sualia lived in the topmost layer of the skyworld. The first 2 human beings created by Miraden had not yet begotten any offspring. Meketefu saw that the male reproductive organ was as small as a tiny red pepper, and that of the female was as big as a snail shall. Their noses were upside down, and whenever it rained, they caught water, making them sick. Meketefu turned their noses side up so they would not take the rain water. They were able to bring forth a child but there was no food that’s why the child died. There was no soil and the child could not be buried. Meketefu gave them soil. Later, various types of vegetation sprouted where the child was buried. The child’s umbilical cord came out as a rice stalk. The intestines tranformed into sweet potatoes. The head became taro tubes, the hands turned into bananas, the nails into areca nuts, the teeth into corn, the brains into lime, the bones into cassava, and the ears into betel leaf.
Interpretation:
Miraden is the Tiruray’s creator and this literary work represents the Tiruray and their creator. Meketefu was the key for the human beings to have their baby and their noses to be side up so that they will not take the water from the rain. When their child died because of hunger, the child’s body parts became the food and vegetations of the Tirurays.
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