Kahit (Curtin’s Wintu wind figure)

Overview

In the opening Olelbis narrative, Kahit sits far to the northeast beyond the first sky, head held between his hands. Lutchi calls out that Kahit cannot catch him, provoking his attention. Sutunut then brings Olelbis’s instruction to move south with Mem Loimis and places two of Olelbis’s feathers beside his ears. Kahit raises his head and sets out, urging the water woman forward while blowing his own whistle.

As Kahit advances, he resembles an enormous bat with outspread wings. The cheek feathers extend until they can touch the sky on either side. Mem Loimis floods the burned world, and the water rises toward Olelpanti. Once enough has arrived, Olelbis asks Kahit to stop. Claiming greater strength than Mem Loimis, Kahit orders her home, travels east and then north, and resumes his original silent posture. The flood is neither an uncontrolled permanent ocean nor a final destruction of his dwelling.

The separate Olelbis and Mem Loimis describes Kahit taking her to his northern home. She bears Sotchet there while already pregnant by Olelbis, and later has two sons with Kahit. The later quest restores access to water but does not narrate her return as Olelbis’s wife. These accounts give the wind figure different relationships and functions; their events are not forced into one uninterrupted chronological biography.

Origins & earliest records

Jeremiah Curtin’s Creation Myths of Primitive America (1898), opening Wintu narrative Olelbis. His provenance notes describe the California collecting context; this chapter does not name its individual teller. Curtin states that an earlier version appeared in The Sun on29March1896.

Records & interpretation

Complete Olelbis,pp.3–48, read through the final disposition of the first people; notes490–493 also read. Complete opening19–25; separately complete Olelbis and Mem Loimis51–65 previously read. Curtin’s comparative theories are not treated as established origins.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Creation Myths of Primitive America in Relation to the Religious History and Mental Development of Mankind

   Jeremiah Curtin · 1898

   Complete Olelbis,pp.3–48; Complete opening19–25; separately complete Olelbis and Mem Loimis51–65 previously read. Notes486–493 for collection, prior publication and editorial interpretation.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary textCurtin1898: complete opening Wintu narrativeResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.