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Akui-Khalava

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Tradition / Region: Brazilian Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Forest Dweller

The Myth

Among the Paresi people of western Mato Grosso, who live along the Buruti, Verde, Guaporé, Juba, Juruena, and Papagayo rivers, there is a forest being known as Akui-Khalava.

He is described as a forest man with long white hair and a handsome appearance. Though human in shape, he is said to be a cannibal. He sings constantly, repeating a refrain rendered as “Amm-lalala, amm-lalala.” He is fond of plums, songs, women, and local beer.

Akui-Khalava is believed to live in trees, especially fruit trees. From there he throws fruit pits—particularly plum pits—at people who pass beneath. He is known to enter villages and force his way into the homes of both single and married women, demanding beer and meat. Because his lips are pierced, he spills beer when he drinks, which is said to provoke annoyance among those who witness it.

After receiving beer, Akui-Khalava kills and eats women, carrying them away into the forest. He is described as ill-tempered and solitary, and he is never said to have a wife.

Some believe that Akui-Khalava originated from an old story about foreign sailors who somehow reached the Amazon. According to this idea, the name Akui-Khalava may have come from words frequently spoken by uninvited guests, which were distorted by people unfamiliar with the language. His love of beer, singing, and women is sometimes cited in support of this belief, though such explanations remain speculative.

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Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Eterari. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/eterari/

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Eterari

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Lizard

The Myth

In Kiwai Papuan folklore, Eterari is a mythical being that appears in the form of a giant lizard. It is sometimes described as a speaking creature, capable of communicating with people.

According to Kiwai belief, eterari are not entirely distant from humans. They are said to interact with people on occasion, and in some areas these beings are regarded with special respect. Certain villages consider an eterari to be their patron, treating it as a protective or ancestral figure connected to the community.

Because of this role, the eterari functions both as a mythical creature and as a totemic being within Kiwai tradition.

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Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Eterari. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/eterari/

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Etengena

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Forest Dweller, Bird, Snake

The Myth

In Kiwai Papuan folklore, etengena are mythical beings associated with particular places in the natural world. They are said to dwell in large trees, springs, and similar locations where nature is dense and undisturbed. Some etengena are believed to watch over vegetable gardens, guarding them from harm or intrusion.

Etengena do not have a single fixed appearance. At times they may take on human form, while at other times they reveal themselves as animals. They are known to appear as snakes, birds, or other creatures, depending on the situation and the person who encounters them.

The idea of the etengena overlaps in part with that of the ororarora, another class of mythical beings known in Kiwai belief. Because of this, the boundaries between these beings are not always clear, and their roles and forms may blend into one another in stories and traditions.

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Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Etengena. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/etengena/

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Ebihare

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: Bihare
Category: Sea Dweller

The Myth

In Kiwai Papuan folklore, Ebihare is a general name used for all mythical beings that live in the sea. Before people learned how to fish, the inhabitants of Mawata did not eat fish at all. Fish were called ebihare, and people would flee from them in fear, collecting only shellfish instead. It was only later, when Bija became the first person to fish, that this fear began to change.

The words bihare and ebihare are commonly used to describe unknown or unnamed sea creatures, especially those believed to be dangerous or supernatural. Any sea being without a specific name may be called ebihare. Because of this, the term covers many kinds of mythical sea creatures rather than a single form.

Ebihare are thought to be harmful to fishermen and sailors. People avoid areas of the sea where they believe these beings live. Their presence is said to be revealed by sudden disturbances in the water—whirlpools, swirling eddies, or ripples that look as though the sea is boiling in a pot.

One story tells of a man from Kubira named Meuri, who had fallen into disgrace among his people. During a raid in Dawar, he allowed himself to be killed by enemies, and his wife was killed as well. Some time later, their children set out by canoe to travel to Dawar. On the journey, the canoe sank, and the children were transformed into bihare, becoming beings of the sea themselves.

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Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Ebihare. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/ebikhare/

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Utumu

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Spirit

The Myth

In Kiwai Papuan mythology, Utumu is the vengeful spirit of a man who was killed in battle and beheaded after death. Because of this violent end, his spirit did not rest and instead returned as a dangerous monster.

Utumu are capable of flight. When they move on the ground, their footprints resemble those of a human, but they are much shorter. These tracks are said to betray their presence to those who know how to recognize them.

At night, an utumu lures people by an eerie sight: the blood flowing from its severed neck glows like fire in the darkness. Drawn toward this shining light, victims are suddenly seized. The utumu attacks with powerful, monstrous claws, and sometimes with its fangs, despite being the spirit of a headless man.

After capturing a victim, the utumu devours the body but always leaves certain parts untouched. The head, bones, hands, and feet remain intact after the attack.

Because of this danger, people take special precautions before sleeping to prevent an utumu from carrying them away during the night. Even so, it is said that doors and walls offer little protection. An utumu can enter a hut through the smallest crack, just as spirits are able to pass wherever they wish.

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Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Utumu. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/Utumu/

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Oriogorukho

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: Oriogoruho
Category: Pig, Forest Dweller

The Myth

In the folklore of the Kiwai Papuans, Oriogorukho is described as an evil mythical creature that resembles a human in general form, but is clearly distinguished by several frightening features. Most striking are its enormous ears, which hang down to the ground. At night, the creature uses these ears to cover itself while it sleeps.

Although its body is broadly human-like, the Oriogorukho’s legs end in pig-like hooves. From its mouth protrude two pairs of sharp fangs, and instead of hair, bushes and creeping plants grow upon its head. Despite this monstrous appearance, the Oriogorukho possesses the ability to take on the shape of an ordinary human being. When it does so, it can be very difficult, or even impossible, to recognize it for what it truly is.

Oriogorukho are said to live in the forest, where they attack people. Their diet further sets them apart from humans. In addition to human flesh, they consume raw meat, fish, and unripe fruits. According to belief, a person who eats such improper food may themselves begin to transform into an Oriogorukho, with the first visible sign being the growth of the creature’s characteristic drooping ears.

In one tale, a man who has been shamed by his wife leaves his village and wanders into the forest. There he encounters an Oriogorukho and agrees to live together with it. Stories such as this suggest that although the Oriogorukho is regarded as a clearly negative and dangerous being, it is capable of treating people well if they themselves behave well toward it.

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Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Oriogorukho. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/Oriogorukho/

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Ororarora

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Forest Dweller

The Myth

Among the people of Kiwai Island, located in the Fly River delta of southeastern New Guinea, Ororarora is a name used to refer to mythical creatures. Rather than identifying a single being, the term functions as a general designation applied to such creatures within local belief.

The name appears in accounts of Kiwai mythology as a collective label, indicating the presence of beings understood to belong to the mythic or supernatural world.

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Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Ororarora. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/aromo-rubi/

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Dema

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Tradition / Region: Australian Mythology, Aborigine Mythology
Alternate Names: Dema, Demes
Category: Shapeshifter, Spirit

The Myth

In the age before the present world had settled into its familiar shape, the Dema walked the land. They were beings of mixed form, combining human features with those of animals and birds. Their bodies did not obey a single shape, and their nature was never fixed. To encounter a Dema was to face something both familiar and strange, human and non-human at once.

The Dema belonged to the time of first creations, when the world was still forming. This era is spoken of only vaguely as “long ago,” yet it does not feel distant. Stories of the Dema move freely between past and present, as if the boundary between then and now were thin. What happened in the age of the Dema can seem as near as yesterday.

The Dema were creators. They brought species, natural forces, and essential objects into existence. Often they did not merely create these things but were them. A Dema might be a man, a bird, a serpent, a tree, or all of these in turn. Transformation was natural to them, and stories tell of sudden and unexpected changes of form.

A Dema could appear as a youth and then slip back into an animal shape without warning. One might live as a serpent, be killed in that form, and yet continue to exist as a human, still bearing traces of the serpent, before eventually becoming a snake once more. Death did not always end a Dema’s story; it often marked another change.

Many Dema were the ancestors of clans and tribes. As totemic founders, they gave rise to the first people, animals, or plants of a lineage. Their mixed appearance reflected the bond between a clan and its totem. Through them, humans and animals were revealed to share a common origin.

Some Dema became the very species they had embodied. A Dema-dog, for example, transformed fully into a dog and produced many intelligent, speaking offspring. From these came the ordinary dogs of the world. In this way, myth explains how the extraordinary became ordinary, and how the living world took its present form.

Though powerful, the Dema were not always benevolent. They often quarreled with humans, bringing danger, rivalry, and conflict. Like heroes and monsters at once, they shaped the world through both creation and destruction.

The Dema are remembered not as distant gods, but as unstable, shifting beings whose actions still echo in the land, in animals, and in human descent. They embody the idea that the world is born from transformation, and that nothing was ever meant to remain fixed forever.

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Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Dema. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/dema/

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Aromo-rubi

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Spirit

The Myth

In the beliefs of the Kiwai Papuans, the sky is not empty. High above the earth live the Aromo-rubi, strange anthropomorphic beings with small bodies and great, powerful limbs. No other spirits dwell in the sky with them; the heights belong to the Aromo-rubi alone.

From their place above the world, they throw down long ropes. When they descend along these ropes and climb back up again, flashes of lightning tear across the sky. Their movement between sky and earth splits the darkness with sudden fire.

Thunder is made in another way. The Aromo-rubi roll massive tree trunks across the heavens. As the wood grinds and crashes through the sky, the sound echoes across the land as thunder, shaking forests and villages below.

Through these acts, the Aromo-rubi command the storm. Lightning and thunder are not signs of distant forces, but the visible and audible traces of their work in the sky.

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Sources

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Aromo-rubi. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/aromo-rubi/

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Abaia

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Tradition / Region: Melanesian Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Eel, Fish, Lake Dweller

The Myth

There is a deep lake in British New Guinea, rich with fish, and at its bottom dwells Abaia, a powerful and magical eel. Abaia is ancient and territorial, and like many great serpents and eels of Melanesian belief, it is bound to the forces of weather, storms, and floods. It does not tolerate disturbance.

One day, a man discovered Abaia’s lake and found that the fish within it were plentiful beyond measure. He caught many and returned to his village, telling the others of the endless bounty. Soon the people came together to the lake, casting their nets and hauling out fish in great numbers. In their greed, they took without restraint.

Among them, one woman caught Abaia himself in her net. The great eel struggled and escaped, slipping back into the depths of the lake.

That night, Abaia took revenge. Rain fell without pause. The lake swelled and overflowed its banks, and the floodwaters rose until the entire village was drowned. Men, women, and children were swept away by the storm.

Only one old woman survived. She had refused to eat the fish taken from the lake and climbed into a tree as the waters rose. When the flood receded, she alone remained, spared because she had not partaken in what belonged to Abaia.

Thus the people learned that the gifts of the water are not without guardians, and that greed awakens the wrath of those who dwell beneath the surface.

Gallery

Sources

Dixon, R. B. (1916) The Mythology of All Races v. IX: Oceanic. Marshall Jones Company, Boston.

A Book of Creatures contributors. (n.d.). Abaia. In A Book of Creatures, from https://abookofcreatures.com/2019/01/04/abaia/

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