Hedu kä misi

Hedu or Hedu kä misi (literally, "sky layer") is the Ya̧nomamö heaven and in the Ya̧nomamö cosmos the second highest of four layers. The top face of Hedu is like the earth (Hei kä misi) in all ways, containing wildlife, plants and gardens, but instead of living humans the Ya̧nomamö believe it to be the residence of the dead.^[1] The activities of humans in Hedu, like the environment there, resembles life on earth in most respects, and the dead eat, hunt, copulate and practice witchcraft, just as living people do.^[2]

The bottom face of Hedu is visible from the mortal ground. All celestial bodies, the sun and the moon, the planets and stars, are attached to it and on it chart a regular east to west path.^[3]

Notes

1. Chagnon, Ya̧nomamö, p. 100.; Wilson et al., "Native Americans". Archived 2009-10-31.
2. Chagnon, Ya̧nomamö, p. 100.
3. Chagnon, Ya̧nomamö, p. 101.

References

• Chagnon, Napoleon A. (1997), Ya̧nomamö, Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology, series eds. George & Louis Spindler (5th ed.), Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, ISBN 0-15-505327-2
• Wilson, David J.; Salomon, Frank; Kicza, John E. (2007), "Native Americans of Middle and South America", Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, archived from the original on 2009-10-31, retrieved 2008-03-02

External links

• Chagnon, Napoleon A., Yanomamö: The Last Days of Eden (excerpts)