Deluge, Gourd, Dog Husband

Around the Circumpacific region, we find a set of motifs, or a theme, that includes the Great Flood, a gourd-like boat that saves the primeval couple, the Dog Husband motif and the idea of the dog or the child of the union of dog and woman giving rise to different tribes, peoples, geographic features, natural phenomenon and the like.

I've created a chart listing many of these occurrences. The list is not meant to be comprehensive as I regularly encounter mythical themes hidden in some lost study buried in the available literature.

Some of the motifs occur much more frequently minus the dog theme, but I only include those with canine connections as they correspond to the direction of this blog. For example, the gourd boat and gourd birth motifs are found many more times throughout this region particularly in Southeast Asia without the dog motif.

Also, we do not find the dog motif linked as such with the theme listed below in the regions of the Far Pacific. There are examples in Papua New Guinea and among the Maori of New Zealand and also in the islands of the Bering Sea.

There are dog-man examples from Hawai`i where we find Kuilioloa, Kaupe and Poki. At least one example has Kuilioloa saving a woman and her children from a flood, but he does not marry the woman. I have not been able to find examples where Kuilioloa, Kaupe and Poki are said to have descendants although Poki is sometimes linked with the legendary chief Boki. In the Pomotu Islands of Eastern Polynesia, there is a myth of the first race of people having been turned into dogs. The dog husband motif is missing to my knowledge, but maybe it can be inferred.

My view is that all this indicates the dog husband motif was added on to a preexisting flood myth. Although I think this happened before the expansion into the Far Pacific the motif never penetrated into the Pacific voyage cultures as it did further West. At some point though it did venture northward along Nusantao trade routes and spread even into Far North cultures. In the Americas, the theme is concentrated along the Pacific Coast particularly in Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and the Pacific Northwest. However, it is found elsewhere especially among the Chippewa and related peoples and the Plains Indians.

The relationship of these Circumpacific myths to the widespread dog-man beliefs of Central Asia is unclear. However it does seem like the Circumpacific themes are related and result from a regional diffusion of which other evidence also exists. The complimentary evidence suggests the spread of this myth could have taken place starting in the Neolithic.


Key to Motifs

A -- Dog or Dog-Man Husband
B -- Dog and Woman as survivors of Deluge
C -- Dog and Woman survive deluge in gourd, bamboo, mortar, drum, hollow tree, etc.
D -- Woman who marries Dog is goddess, princess, chief's daughter
E -- Brother and Sister who survive flood (usually in gourd, bamboo, etc.) give birth to dog
F -- Primeval couple give birth to gourd, shapeless lump or dog-shaped lump
G -- Gourd, lump, dog, etc. becomes people, geographical locations, clans, etc. usually after being divided.
I -- Dog husband/child/messenger brings agriculture, rice after/during flood
J -- Dog husband/child/messenger brings fire after/during flood
K -- Dog and Woman as ancestors
L -- Weredog families, Weredog ancestor

List of Motifs by Location and Ethnic Group

Group	Motifs
Sedang, Gie, Trieng, Kayong (Mon-Khmer speakers, Laos)	A, B, K (14 variants, Dang N. V.)
Mien (Yao) (Hmong-Mien speakers, scattered through Southeast Asia)	A, B, D, F, G, I, K(43 variants, Dang N. V.) Lump of flesh becomes Mien and other peoples
Mon-Khmer in southern Laos	A, B, K(30 variants, Dang N. V.)
Lolo (Tibeto-Burmese speakers in Yunnan and Burma)	A, B, I, K
Cor, Hre (Mon-Khmer groups in Vietnam)	A, B, K(5 variants, Dang N. V.)
Moro, Bukidnon (Malayo-Polynesian speakers in southern Philippines)	A, B, C, D, K Woman and dog survive flood in bamboo and become ancestors of Moros.
Igorot, Tinguian (Malayo-Polynesian speakers in northern Philippines)	I, J
Sorsogon in Bikol region of northern Philippines	G, K Humanity originates from dog's tail.
Maori (Malayo-Polynesian speakers in New Zealand)	A, D, K Maui changes his brother-in-law, Owa, into a dog. Owa's wife Hina, in despair, jumps in the sea and floats around for many months before saved by her brothers. This may be an allusion to the deluge. Owa and Hina have a son, a dog named Pero who becomes the tutelary deity of dogs. Many Maori considered themselves descendants of Owa and Hina. Multiple variants of this story.
New Guinea	A, J, KDog also said to discover fresh and/or sea water. Dog rescues people from flood. Many variants.
Dusun, Murut, Kadazan, Dayak (Malayo-Polynesian speakers in northern Borneo and Sabah)	A, B, C, D, E, G, I, J, KMany variants among Dusun and Kadazan. Among Rungus, myth of dog bringing rice plants on tail during deluge with similar beliefs among Meo of Vietnam and in Chinese literature. Rituals involving removal of dog's tail found in Borneo, also "tail-less dog" motif is common in Bornean tattoo.
Nias, Aceh in Sumatra (Malayo-Polynesian speakers)	A, B, D, KThe dog in this case is usually a red dog something also found not only in Java and Lombok but also in Siberia, Central Asia and even the Americas.
Taruko (Formosan speakers in Taiwan)	A, D, K
Bisayan, Kapampangan, Tagalog and other lowlanders in Philippines (Malayo-Polynesian speakers)	G, L Belief in weredog families, lineages or whole communites, or of descent from the same is widespread with many variants among lowland Filipinos.
Java, Lombok (Malayo-Polynesian speakers)	A, B, D, K Many variants of the red dog theme can be found in the region both in folklore and traditional written literature.
Ainu in Japan	A, B, D, K Goddess comes on boat from sea to Ainu homeland, possibly allusion to flood. She is saved by a dog who leads her to freshwater and brings her food. She marries the dog and the children are ancestors of the Ainu.
Ancient China	A, B, D, E, F, G, H, I, K Most myths are attributed to southern region both within China i.e. the Man peoples, and those beyond China, i.e. Fusang or Dog Fief Country. The brother and sister, Fu Hsi and Nu Gua give birth to formless lump after the flood, at least in one instance called "Hundun" the name of the dog-shaped deity in other versions who is divided to make the world. The name of the dog ancestor Panhu contains the word for "gourd."
Eskimo, Koriak, Nivki, Chuckhi in Siberia	A, G, K
Besisi, Jakun, Semang of Malaysia	A(?), B(?), C(?), K(?) The Jakun call the hole in the bamboo from which their ancestors arose the "Dog Hole in the Ancestral Bamboo." This may be related to a Semang word that means "dog bamboo." The Besisi believe their divine ancestor fell out of Heaven along with his dog.
Alaska and Aleutian Islands	A, B(?), C(?), D, G(?), K Flood may be alluded to when woman is thrown into sea by her father for marrying a dog. In some versions, the woman saves her children by sending them away in two boats. It is the woman's body i.e. her fingers that become whales, seals and whalebones when hacked by her father.
North and South America	A, B, D, G, K In some versions like that of the Huichol, a dog-woman survives the flood. Among the Aztecs, the dog deity Xolotl takes the bones of humans after the Great Flood to create a new man and woman to repopulate the Earth. In the Dogrib Indian version, the dog-man and woman give birth to bear pups. The skins of these children become Indian tribes. Among the Tlingit, Haida and Nootka the children of the dog and woman union become phenomenon like thunder and earthquakes.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Related links

Dog as deity, ancestor and royal animal

Article: Dog reverence in Southeast Asia and Pacific

Interpretations of the Dog Husband Theme

Rajasuya , Sunahsepa and the Royal Dog

Single origin for domesticated dog in Southeast Asia and South China

References

Dang, N. V. "The Flood Myth and the Origin of Ethnic Groups in Southeast Asia," The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 106, No. 421. (Summer, 1993), pp. 304-337.

Ho, Ting-jui. A Comparative Study of Myths and Legends of Formosan Aborigines, Orient Cultural Service, 1971.
Leach, Maria. God had a Dog: Folklore of the Dog, Rutgers University Press, 1961.

McHugh, Susan. Dog, Reaktion Books, 2004.

Realubit, Maria Lilia F. Bikols of the Philippines, A.M.S. Press, 1983.

Rutter, Owen. The Pagans of North Borneo, Hutchinson & Co., Ltd, 1929.

Dog Star (Glossary)

The dog star has through the ages been associated with Sirius and/or less frequently the planet Venus.

The name of Sirius probably is derived from the Egyptian word seir meaning "prince," and related also to Hebrew sar. Another possibility is that the word comes from the Greek form for Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld.

The star is the brightest in the heavens and was called Kasista "Leader" by the ancient Akkadians. The Persians knew it likewise as Tistar "Chieftain" or Zeeb "Leader."

It was pictured in cultures throughout the world as a dog or wolf situated in the southern sky and associated with the hot or "dog days" of summer.

Sirius is also often connected with the image of a hunter. Among the Sumerians, Ninurta, the hunter, and husband of the dog goddess Bau (Gula), was linked with Sirius, while his wife had Venus associations. Later, when Inanna absorbs Bau's attributes she is likewise viewed as a huntress with links both to Venus and Sirius.

In Greek myth, Sirius formed the head of the hunter Orion's dog, the constellation Canis Major. According to Monier-Williams, the dog star was known among Hindus as Lubdhaka and Mrgavyadha both meaning "hunter" and referring to the god Siva or Rudra.

Another association of Sirius connects the star with the Milky Way, known often as the "Way of Souls" or the "Way of the Dog/Wolf." In this sense, Sirius is viewed as one or more dogs or wolves guarding the path taken by departed souls.

In ancient Egypt, the heliacal rising of Sirius was central to the yearly calendar. Sirius and Orion are personified respectively by the deities Sopdet and Sah, who are in turn manifestations of Isis and Osiris. Sopdet and Sah beget Sopdu, who is the manifestation of Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, and the patron deity of Egyptian royalty. Sopdet is sometimes portrayed as a large dog, or as riding side-saddle on a dog (during the Roman period).

When the Sun and Moon conjoined at the start of the Egyptian New Year a festival known as the "sacred marriage" was celebrated. This may relate to the Pyramid Texts which state that Pharaoh unites with Isis in a form of hieros gamos bringing forth Horus-Sopdu. In another passage, the royal-divine union is said to beget the Morning Star, and thus may connect Venus with Horus.

Among the Sumerians, the sacred marriage took place between the priest-king and Inanna, the latter probably represented by the Lukur priestess, who was in turn linked with the daughters of dog-headed Bau. Inanna again has as her planet Venus and Sirius as one of her fixed stars. The king during this ritual stands for Dumuzi, the husband of Inanna, and every year near the rising of Sirius in the summer, the Kelabim or dog priests of Dumuzi (Tammuz) held rites for the god.

Adonis had similar rites, and Carl Kerenyi believes that the orgia festivals celebrated in honor of Dionysos were also linked with the Sirius cycle.

Further to the east we find numerous myths of the marriage of a dog to a goddess or queen in the totemic histories of numerous peoples. Especially in Central Asia, South China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific the concept of part-dog or wolf ancestry is prevalent. From Assam in the West to Mongolia in the North and Java in the South, eastward to New Guinea and other Pacific isles in Oceania and northward again to the Ryukus and Bering Sea, the sacred dog-human marriage motif is found.

David Gordon White in Myths of the Dog-Man discusses the motif found among the Chinese, Hmong-Mien and Southeast Asian peoples of a heavenly dog who comes to earth following catastrophic floods bringing the gift of rice agriculture. These resemble closely the Kapampangan tales of Tala who rescues the flooded inhabitants of Central Luzon by teaching them riziculture. White mentions a "tradition, dating from the Shang dynasty, that connects a dog with the ancient rice god Shang-ti, and a Ch'in and Han period sacrifice called the lei (a term for which the Chinese characters are "dog," "rice," and "head") that involved the offerings of dog's flesh and rice, by which a dismembered Shang-ti was ritually reintegrated and resurrected."

Shang-ti becomes associated with T'ien (Heaven) during the Zhou (Chou) dynasty and the Shih-chi states that the god in the form of the "Ti-Dog" was the ancestor of the Hou Chih and T'ai peoples.

Although Sirius (known as the Heavenly Wolf in China) is not mentioned in these legends, the idea of a heavenly dog coming after the summer floods indeed could represent a link with the dog Star. The heliacal rising of Sirius during the summer heralds the flooding season in the monsoon climate region. The descent of Sirius or Venus from Heaven in the form of a dog bringing agriculture and uniting in divine marriage all fit in the Sirius myth pattern. The flooding of the Nile after the rising of Sirius was essential to good harvests in ancient Egypt.

The image of Phan Hu descending from Heaven and swimming across the flooded earth with a rice plant in his mouth, to later marry the Chinese emperor's daughter and father the Yao people is an ideal form of the Eastern myth.

While various explanations have been given for the canine attributes bestowed to the star Sirius, the link with a culture-bearing ancestor is the one proposed here. In this sense, the heliacal rising of Sirius would herald the advent of the canine hero linked in this case with the cataclysmic eruption of the cosmic mountain.

In ancient symbology, this involved the Sun and Moon, not simply conjunct as in the Egyptian New Year festival, but in solar eclipse represented by the Crescent Sun. Venus in inferior conjunction or transit is represented as a star in the center or next to the Crescent Sun. These celestial bodies should be placed above or emerging from a mountain, hill, mound, stupa, triangle, pyramid, person's head or some other symbol of the cosmic axis.

In some cases, one can also see to the left of these symbols another star or stellar symbol that should be taken as representing Sirius. Left in this case means to the south as ideally the celestial configuration should be in the West, the direction of Pinatubo.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Kerenyi, Carl. Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life, Princeton University Press, 1996.

McGahey, Robert. The Orphic Moment: Shaman to Poet-Thinker in Plato, Nietzsche, and Mallarme, SUNY Press, 1994.

Sasaki, Chris. Constellations: Stars & Stories, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2003, p. 32ff.

Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, 2002.

White, David Gordon. Myths of the Dog-Man, University of Chicago Press, 1991.