Chingichngish (also spelled ''Chengiichngech'', ''Chinigchinix, Chinigchinich, Changitchnish'', etc.), also known as Quaoar (also ''Qua-o-ar'', ''Kwawar'', etc.) and by other names including ''Ouiamot'', ''Tobet'' and ''Saor'', is an important mythological figure of the

Mission Indians Mission Indians was a term used to refer to the Indigenous peoples of California who lived or grew up in the Spanish mission system in California. Today the term is used to refer to their descendants and to specific, contemporary tribal nations ...

of coastal

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, a group of Takic-speaking peoples, today divided into the Payómkawichum (''Luiseño''),

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

(''Gabrieliño and Fernandeño''), and

Acjachemem The Acjachemen () are an Indigenous people of California. Published maps often identify their ancestral lands as extending from the beach to the mountains, south from what is now known as Aliso Creek in Orange County to Las Pulgas Canyon in the ...

(''Juaneño'') peoples. Chinigchinix was born, or first appeared, after the death of

Wiyot The Wiyot ( Wiyot: Wíyot, Chetco-Tolowa: Wee-'at xee-she or Wee-yan' Xee-she', Euchre Creek Tututni: Wii-yat-dv-ne – "Mad River People", Yurok: Weyet) are an indigenous people of California living near Humboldt Bay, California and a small ...

, a tyrannical ruler of the first beings, who was poisoned by his sons. Wiyot's murder brought death into the world, and as a consequence, the male creator Night divided the first human ancestors into distinct peoples, assigning them languages and territories. Michael Eugene Harkin, ''Reassessing revitalization movements: perspectives from North America and the Pacific Islands'',

American Anthropological Association The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an American organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 members, the association, based in Arlington, Virginia, includes archaeologists, cultural anthropo ...

, U of Nebraska Press, 2004 , p. 15. In June 2002,

50000 Quaoar Quaoar ( minor-planet designation: 50000 Quaoar) is a ringed dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, a ring of many icy planetesimals beyond Neptune. It has an elongated ellipsoidal shape with an average diameter of , about half the size of the d ...

, a large

trans-Neptunian object A trans-Neptunian object (TNO), also written transneptunian object, is any minor planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun at a greater average distance than Neptune, which has an orbital semi-major axis of 30.1 astronomical units (AU). ...

and

ringed Bird ringing (UK) or bird banding (US) is the attachment of a small, individually numbered metal or plastic tag to the leg or wing of a wild bird to enable individual identification. This helps in keeping track of the movements of the bird an ...

dwarf planet A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit around the Sun, massive enough to be hydrostatic equilibrium, gravitationally rounded, but insufficient to achieve clearing the neighbourhood, orbital dominance like the ...

, was discovered and named after this deity.

Names

The name ''Ouiamot'' is ostensibly similar to ''Wiyot'' (Ouiot), the name of another important figure, the primeval tyrant killed just before the appearance of Chinigchinix. Ouiamot is possibly to be taken as Ouiamot the childhood name of Chinigchinix. The name ''Quaoar'' was first recorded by

Hugo Reid Hugo Reid (April 18, 1811 – December 12, 1852) was a Scottish immigrant and early resident of Los Angeles County who became known for writing a series of newspaper articles, or "letters," that described the culture, language, and contemporary ci ...

in his 1852 description of Tongva, in the spelling ''Qua-o-ar''. Quaoar's parents were Tacu and Auzar, or, according to other accounts, he was born of ''Tamaayawut'' (Mother Earth). According to yet other accounts, "He had neither father nor mother". Both the

Tongva religion The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

and

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

are recorded only fragmentarily. As a consequence, the pronunciation of the name ''Quaoar'' is not known with certainty. Hugo Reid (1852) recorded it as ''Qua-o-ar'', suggesting that it was trisyllabic. But the Spanish transcribed it ''Quaguar'', suggesting two syllables (, reflecting the Spanish use of ''gu'' for ). Kroeber (1925) spells it Kwawar, though he notes Reid's spelling as well: ''Kwawar (" Qua-o-ar ")''.

Harrington Harrington (or Harington) may refer to: People as a surname *Harrington (surname) People as a forename * Arthur Raikes (Arthur Edward Harington Raikes, 1867–1915), British army officer * Charles Harrington Elster, American writer *Edward Josep ...

(1933) gives the most precise transcription, K(w)áuwar, in interpreting an 1846 translation of a Spanish text.Harrington, John Peabody. 1933. ''Chinigchinich: A Revised and Annotated Version of Alfred Robinson's Translation of Father Geronimo Boscana's Historical Account of the Belief, Usages, Customs and Extravagancies of the Indians of This Mission of San Juan Capistrano Called the Acagchemem Tribe (1846).'' Hanna, ed.
online
Given the general quality of Harrington's work, this might be expected to be the most accurate as well, approximately , with three syllables. In English it is , with two syllables.

History

The Takic beliefs are known only fragmentarily, as these peoples were Christianized early, by Spanish missionaries, during the late 18th to early 19th centuries. Only sparse material has been collected by ethnologists from the few remaining native speakers during 19th century. Chingichngish has variously been represented as a

creator deity A creator deity or creator god is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatristic traditions separate a ...

, a

culture hero A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group (Culture, cultural, Ethnic group, ethnic, Religion, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or Discovery (observation), discovery. Although many culture heroes help with ...

or lawgiver figure or a "prophet", who became associated with the figure of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

after the conversion of the Takic peoples. This character was first mentioned in a description of the beliefs of the native peoples who were associated with the

Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano () is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, California, San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''The Califo ...

in accounts written by the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

missionary Gerónimo Boscana in the 1820s. One version of Boscana's manuscript was subsequently published by Alfred Robinson (1846), who gave it "Chinigchinich" as a title. Some subsequent scholars have characterized Luiseño religion in general, or certain portions of it, or a set of some more widely shared traits, as a Chingichngish cult ( DuBois 1908; Kroeber 1925; Moriarty 1969).

John Peabody Harrington John Peabody Harrington (April 29, 1884 – October 21, 1961) was an American linguist and ethnologist and a specialist in the indigenous peoples of California. Harrington is noted for the massive volume of his documentary output, most of whic ...

(Boscana 1933) thought that Chingichngish might have been a historical figure, but most scholars have interpreted him as a deity. Alfred L. Kroeber (1925) suggested that Chingichngish beliefs were a historic-period native response to cultural shock of the missions, and Raymond C. White (1963) thought that they might have arisen in response to earlier contacts with European sailors along the California coast. The most distinctive characteristic of Chingichngish beliefs concerned the existence of a set of "Chingichngish avengers" who spied on human beings and enforced the moral code. These figures included Raven, Rattlesnake, Bear, Mountain Lion, and others. There were also ceremonial items sacred to Chingichngish, including

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

and

winnowing Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated from grain. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation. In its simplest form, it involves throwing the mixture into the ...

trays. Chingichngish beliefs were associated with the initiation ceremonies for adolescent boys, during which the hallucinogenic plant ''

Datura ''Datura'' is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, Vespertine (biology), vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil's t ...

'' (Toloache, Jimsonweed, ''Datura wrightii'') was ingested, but elements of these ceremonies were much more widely shared than were belief in the specific character of Chingichngish.

References

*Boscana, Jerónimo. 1933. ''Chinigchinich: A Revised and Annotated Version of Alfred Robinson's Translation of Father Geronomi Boscana's Historical Account of the Belief, Usages, Customs and Extravagancies of the Indians of this Mission of San Juan Capistrano, Called the Acagchemem Tribe''. Extensively annotated by John P. Harrington. Fine Arts Press, Santa Ana, California. *Boscana, Jerónimo. 1934. ''A New Original Version of Boscana's Historical Account of the San Juan Capistrano Indians of Southern California''. Edited by John P. Harrington. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 92(4). Washington, D.C. *DuBois, Constance Goddard. 1908. "The Religion of the Luiseño Indians of Southern California. ''University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology'' 8:69-186. Berkeley. *Kroeber, A. L. 1925. ''Handbook of the Indians of California''.

Bureau of American Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Departme ...

Bulletin No. 78.

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, Washington, D.C. *Moriarty, James R., III. 1969. ''Chinigchinix: An Indigenous California Religion''.

Southwest Museum The Southwest Museum of the American Indian was a museum, library, and archive located in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States, above the north-western bank of the Arroyo Seco canyon and stream. The museum ...

, Los Angeles. *Robinson, Alfred. 1846. ''Life in California''. Wiley & Putnam, New York. *White, Raymond C. 1963. "Luiseño Social Organization". ''University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology'' 48(2). Berkeley. {{Traditional Narratives (California groups) Native American mythology of California Mission Indians Tongva 50000 Quaoar

Names

History

See also

References