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Mavutsini(n), a MythSource painting
Amazonian

Mavutsini(n)

01Identity

Mavutsini(n) in Amazonian tradition

Mavutsini(n) is the father whose efforts to restore a dead son are described in Pedro Agostinho’s collection of Kamayurá narratives. The short account presents two attempts. In one, painted and decorated wood begins to become human; in the other, a son’s body is dug up two days after his death. Another son looks while each transformation is still unfinished.

Neither attempt restores the son completely. Mavutsini(n) becomes angry and explains that his work was meant to make resurrection possible for the watching son as well. After the interruption, he says, people can no longer be brought back by that method. The account links the failed restoration of a family member with the loss of a possibility meant to extend beyond that one death.

SourceMitos e outras narrativas Kamayurá: Parte II, 6. Mavutsini(n) tenta ressuscitar filhos seus, printed p. 48

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Mavutsini(n)?

    Mavutsini(n) is the father whose efforts to restore a dead son are described in Pedro Agostinho’s collection of Kamayurá narratives.
02The myths

The myths of Mavutsini(n)

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Mavutsini(n) Attempts a Resurrection

Pedro Agostinho’s collection describes two attempts by Mavutsini(n) to restore a dead son. In the first, he paints and decorates a piece of wood. It begins to turn into a person, with the change starting at the top. Before it is complete, another son looks at it. Only half becomes human; the rest remains wood.

In the second attempt, a son dies and is dug up two days later. Mavutsini(n) tries to bring him back to life. Another son sees the dead son when he is only partly out of the hole, and the transformation is left unfinished.

Mavutsini(n) is angry on both occasions. He explains to the son who looked that he was doing this so that the son, too, could return after his own death. Because the son looked before the work was complete, Mavutsini(n) can no longer restore people in this way. Both attempts end with the restoration interrupted rather than completed.

Mavutsini(n) Attempts a Resurrection, a MythSource painting of the scene