Watunna: An Orinoco Creation Cycle

Marc de Civrieux

University of Texas Press, Jun 28, 2010 - Social Science - 235 pages

Originally published in Spanish in 1970, Watunna is the epic history and creation stories of the Makiritare, or Yekuana, people living along the northern bank of the Upper Orinoco River of Venezuela, a region of mountains and virgin forest virtually unexplored even to the present. The first English edition of this book was published in 1980 to rave reviews. This edition contains a new foreword by David Guss, as well as Mediata, a detailed myth that recounts the origins of shamanism.

About the author

David Guss teaches anthropology at Tufts University and is an associate of the Committee on Degrees in Folklore and Mythology, Harvard University. Marc de Civrieux, a French-born paleontologist, has conducted ethnographic research throughout Venezuela since the late 1940s. His widely published work has received many awards.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Watunna: An Orinoco Creation Cycle
• Author: Marc de Civrieux
• Contributor: David Guss
• Publisher: University of Texas Press, 2010
• ISBN: 029278953X, 9780292789531
• Length: 235 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Folklore & Mythology; Social Science / General