Waka-ush Kamui

Waka-ush Kamui is the Ainu "kamui" ("goddess") of fresh water. She is also known as Petorush Mat ("Watering-place Woman").

Depiction

Waka-ush Kamui is portrayed as a long-haired woman who is a skilled dancer and singer.Ashkenazy, Michael. "Handbook of Japanese Mythology". Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003. 283-284]

Mythology

In Ainu mythology, Waka-ush Kamui is a benevolent goddess who oversees the river valleys around which Ainu communities centered and is responsible for all fresh water. She is sympathetic to humanity, and is sometimes petitioned to intercede with other "kamui" on their behalf.

One such myth tells how Waka-ush Kamui ended a famine that had broken out. Petitioned by Okikurme, the culture hero and sorcerer, she invites the "kamui" of the rapids, the "kamui" of fish, the "kamui" of game, the goddess of the hunt Hash-Inau-uk Kamui, and the overseer of the land Kotankor Kamui to a feast. She dances and sings, entertaining them, and in the course of the evening brings up the humans' plight. The fish "kamui" informs her that the humans were not killing fish in the proper ritual manner, so he has locked the salmon in his storehouse; the game "kamui" says the same of the deer. Kotankor Kamui is angry as well, because the humans have not made offerings to him. Waka-ush Kamui and the sympathetic Hash-Inau-uk Kamui, while continuing to dance, send their souls to the storehouses and let the deer and salmon loose; in order to avoid making a scene, the other "kamui" had no choice but to continue the feast. Afterward, Waka-ush Kamui sends a dream to Okikurme, telling him what had happened and why, and warning him to see that the rituals were carried out in proper fashion.

References

*Ashkenazy, Michael. "Handbook of Japanese Mythology". Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003.
*Etter, Carl. "Ainu Folklore: Traditions and Culture of the Vanishing Aborigines of Japan". Chicago: Wilcox and Follett, 1949.
*Munro, Neil Gordon. "Ainu Creed and Cult". New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.