the Twain

Also known as: Twain Beloved / Uanamachi Píahkoa / the Beloved Twain / the Beloved Twain who Descended / the Beloved Twain who descended / the Twain Gods / the Two Little Ones / Úanam Achi Píahkoa · Role: the twin gods, sons of the Sun-father and the Foam-cap · First appears: Section 5 · The Birth from the Sea of the Twain Deliverers of Men

In Section 5, Sun-father impregnated Foam-cap, who gave birth to the Twain: first Úanam Éhkona, the elder, then Úanam Yáluna, the younger. Sun-father imparted his knowledge and weapons to them and gave them dominion over men and creatures. They lifted Sky-father into the zenith, descended into the under-world, and abode with men and creatures as their masters and fathers. In Section 6, they formed a ladder and led people and other beings upward, guiding successive bands toward the upper world and teaching them to seek Sun-father for wisdom. In the following sections, they helped determine the peoples’ lands and creatures, guided them eastward in search of the world’s Middle, and repeatedly summoned them to continue their journey.

In Section 43, the Twain declared that the people would change and cut their forelocks, talons, webbing, and tails. In Section 44, they announced the names they would bear: “Áhaiyuta, the elder and main; Mátsailema, the younger of birth.” They instructed the people in preparations for war, and Únahsinte rescued them from the hot waters. Afterward, they assembled warriors and taught the first Priests of the Bow secret words in the caves. In Section 46, they sought counsel from Sun-father, who revealed the Demoness’s life-secret and the mountain dwellers’ power over the under-fires; in Section 57, the incantations they had taught were chanted during the test of the Middle.