At the beginning of time, the god Chau lived up above with his wife and children. He was the king of sky and earth.
The Creation – Mapuche (Image Source)The god Chau had many names. He was also known as Father, the Sun, Antü and Nguenechèn, creator of the world. The queen was his mother and his wife, all at once. Her name was Kushe, which means witch; but she also had many names; Moon, Blue Queen and Maga.
Chau began creating the sky with all of its clouds and stars, and the earth. He created the rivers and forests and gigantic mountain ranges. By sowing seeds between his great fingers, he brought forth the animals and people, the Mapuches.
From the sky, Chau watched over his creations and gave them light during the day. At night his wife the moon cared for the various creatures on earth. Chau’s sons grew quickly. They started to question their father’s rule and soon they decided to take over his great power. They planned to rule the earth.
When Chau found out he became so angry that he threw his two sons down to earth. As their enormous bodies struck the earth, they created two large holes in the ground. Mother Moon was heartbroken. She started to cry great floods of tears which filled the two holes with water. This is how the lakes Làcar and Lolog were created. When he saw his wife’s sadness, Chau felt sorry for what he had done. He took the bodies of his fallen children and made them into a great serpent with wings. He named this creature Kai-Kai Filu. But Kai-Kai Filu still carried the souls of the two rebellious sons within him. He, too, wanted to overthrow Chau. Kai-Kai Filu grew angry and from time to time. He bashed his tail and flapped his wings; this created floods and earthquakes.
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Chau was worried about this so he made a second, good serpent out of clay. He named him Tren-Tren and sent him down to earth to keep an eye on Kai-Kai Filu. Whenever Kai-Kai Filu got into another evil mood, Tren-Tren would whistle and warn the people.
After many years had passed Chau decided to come down to earth one day to teach people about growing and preserving food, and how to tell time. He came disguised as a man with dark skin, wearing leather. Chau also gave his people the gift of fire. This is when the Mapuches started calling him: “The Good from the Sky.”
Many years passed and Chau returned to heaven. People started to forget him and his teachings and they started to fight amongst each other. Chau looked on from above and became very bitter. He decided to ask the angry Kai-Kai Filu for help. He wanted the serpent to scare people a little so that they would remember their creator and start living the right way again. Tren-Tren overheard Chau talking to Kai-Kai Filu and decided to warn the Mapuches by whistling. When they heard this, the people fled up into the mountains, looking for protection from the rolling boulders, earthquakes and floods created by Kai-Kai Filu’s big tail. But it was of no use; the earth trembled so hard that all people died except for one boy and one girl, who hid in a cave on the mountain.
The little boy and girl grew up with the help of a vixen and a female puma, who fed them their milk. From these two people came a new population of Mapuches. Chau was satisfied with his new race.
Eventually, Chau stopped worrying about mankind. Harvests are not as plentiful as before, disease is everywhere and children have stopped obeying their parents.
Nowadays Chau doesn’t even listen to the Mapuche people’s prayers. That is why the white men were able to take so much away from them.
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