Quaoar (mythology)
Encyclopedia
Quaoar is the creation deity of the Native American
Tongva people, native to the area around Los Angeles
, California. According to Tongva mythology, Quaoar sings and dances the world and other deities into existence.
Like in most other creation myths, at first there was Chaos
. Then along came Quaoar. He was sorrowed by the emptiness in existence and began to dance, whirl, and twirl all about while he sang the Song of Creation. God of the Sky, Weywot
, was first to be formed of the creation melody. Next came Chehooit, who became Goddess of the Earth. These two new deities joined in the dance and created the sun and moon (Tamit and Moar, respectively).
Together these five sang and danced everything else into existence: animals, plants, people, and the other gods as well. His work finished, Quaoar faded into obscurity, perhaps returning to wherever it was he came from originally.
In 2002, a large Trans-Neptunian object
was named Quaoar
after the Tongva deity.
pronunciation of Quaoar is not certain. It's not even entirely clear if it had two syllables or three. There have been several transcriptions. The Spanish transcribed it Quaguar ˈkwawar, reflecting the Spanish use of gu for [w]. Hugo Reid recorded the name from Tongva elders in 1852 as Qua-o-ar, and this (apart from the hyphens) is the spelling preferred by the Tongva today. Kroeber
(1925) spells it Kwawar, though he notes Reid's spelling as well: Kwawar (" Qua-o-ar "). Harrington
(1933) gives the most precise transcription, K(w)á’uwar, in interpreting an 1846 translation of a Spanish text. Given the general quality of Harrington's work, this might be expected to be the most accurate as well, approximately ˈkʷaʔuwar, with three syllables. In English it is ˈ, with two syllables.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
Tongva people, native to the area around Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California. According to Tongva mythology, Quaoar sings and dances the world and other deities into existence.
Like in most other creation myths, at first there was Chaos
Chaos (cosmogony)
Chaos refers to the formless or void state preceding the creation of the universe or cosmos in the Greek creation myths, more specifically the initial "gap" created by the original separation of heaven and earth....
. Then along came Quaoar. He was sorrowed by the emptiness in existence and began to dance, whirl, and twirl all about while he sang the Song of Creation. God of the Sky, Weywot
Weywot
Weywot is the sky god of the Tongva people, son and first creation of the creator god Quaoar. The Tongva chose the name Weywot for the moon of the likely dwarf planet , which was named after their creation god.-External links:*...
, was first to be formed of the creation melody. Next came Chehooit, who became Goddess of the Earth. These two new deities joined in the dance and created the sun and moon (Tamit and Moar, respectively).
Together these five sang and danced everything else into existence: animals, plants, people, and the other gods as well. His work finished, Quaoar faded into obscurity, perhaps returning to wherever it was he came from originally.
In 2002, a large Trans-Neptunian object
Trans-Neptunian object
A trans-Neptunian object is any minor planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun at a greater distance on average than Neptune.The first trans-Neptunian object to be discovered was Pluto in 1930...
was named Quaoar
50000 Quaoar
50000 Quaoar is a rocky trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper belt with one known moon. Discovered on June 4, 2002 by astronomers Chad Trujillo and Michael Brown at the California Institute of Technology from images acquired at the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory, it is thought by...
after the Tongva deity.
Pronunciation
Tongva mythology is only preserved in scraps, and the TongvaTongva language
-Collected by C. Hart Merriam :Numbers# Po-koo /bo'kʰøː/# Wěh-hā /ʋɛj'χɒː/# Pah-hā /pa'χɒː/# Wah-chah /ʋa'ʃɒχ/# Mah-har /ma'χɒʁ/# Pah-vah-hā /pa'va'χɒː/# Wah-chah-kav-e-ah /ʋa'ʃa'kʰav̥eʲa/...
pronunciation of Quaoar is not certain. It's not even entirely clear if it had two syllables or three. There have been several transcriptions. The Spanish transcribed it Quaguar ˈkwawar, reflecting the Spanish use of gu for [w]. Hugo Reid recorded the name from Tongva elders in 1852 as Qua-o-ar, and this (apart from the hyphens) is the spelling preferred by the Tongva today. Kroeber
Alfred L. Kroeber
Alfred Louis Kroeber was an American anthropologist. He was the first professor appointed to the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and played an integral role in the early days of its Museum of Anthropology, where he served as director from 1909 through...
(1925) spells it Kwawar, though he notes Reid's spelling as well: Kwawar (" Qua-o-ar "). Harrington
John Peabody Harrington
John Peabody Harrington was an American linguist and ethnologist and a specialist in the native peoples of California. Harrington is noted for the massive volume of his documentary output, most of which has remained unpublished: the shelf space in the Library of Congress dedicated to his work...
(1933) gives the most precise transcription, K(w)á’uwar, in interpreting an 1846 translation of a Spanish text. Given the general quality of Harrington's work, this might be expected to be the most accurate as well, approximately ˈkʷaʔuwar, with three syllables. In English it is ˈ, with two syllables.