Uakti is a
mythical
Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
musician described by the
Tucano people
The Tucano people (sometimes spelt Tukano)(In Tucano language, Tucano: ye’pâ-masɨ (m.sg.), ye’pâ-maso (f.sg.), ye’pâ-masa (pl.)), are a group of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous South Americans in the northwestern Amazon, a ...
of the Alto
Rio Negro region of
the Amazon.
According to the legend, the creature had holes in his body such that they would produce sound when he ran or the wind blew through him.
The Planet - 7 August 2006 - Uakti
/ref> This music seduced the women of the tribe and so the other men burned and buried his body. The myth holds that out of Uakti's remains grew the palm trees from which the Tukanos' flute
The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
s are made. The women of the Tukano Indians are thus not allowed to play flutes.
The Brazilian instrumental group Uakti takes its name from this myth.
Notes
See also
* Syrinx
In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx () was an Arcadian nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Being pursued by Pan, she fled into the river Ladon, and at her own request was metamorphosed into a reed from which Pan then mad ...
- a similar myth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uakti (Myth)
Amazon mythology
Indigenous culture of the Amazon
Flutes