nuunö ekato

Ye'kwana

Etymology

From nuunö (“moon”) +‎ ekato (front-grade possessed form of ökato (“shadow, reflection, spirit, double”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nuːnə ekaːto]

Noun

nuunö ekato

1. shadow cast by the moon

   Synonyms: nuunö awono ökato, koijai ekato

2. one of the several doubles or spirits (ökato) possessed by each person, namely the one said to have its home in the moon, to be profoundly malevolent, to oppose the shii ekato, and to return to the moon at death, where it suffers and burns forever, having absorbed all the evil thoughts and actions of the dead person

   Synonyms: nuunö awono ökato, koijai ekato

References

• Guss, David M. (1989) To Weave and Sing: Art, Symbol, and Narrative in the South American Rain Forest, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, →ISBN, pages 50–51: “nuna awono akato”
• Gongora, Majoí Fávero (2017) Ääma ashichaato: replicações, transformações, pessoas e cantos entre os Ye’kwana do rio Auaris‎^[1], corrected edition, São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo, pages 92–93
• Lauer, Matthew Taylor (2005) Fertility in Amazonia: Indigenous Concepts of the Human Reproductive Process Among the Ye’kwana of Southern Venezuela‎^[2], Santa Barbara: University of California, page 207: “nuuna awano äcato”