The Otammari people are an animistic tribe. They believe in the existence of God, whom they call Kuyie. However, their view of God is entirely different from our biblical understanding. As we have studied the stories and myths of the Otammari people as part of our cultural research, we have discovered several stories that help us understand their perception of God and Satan. Here are two examples:

The Otammari Creation story

In the beginning, the king of the earth went to see the king of heaven to attend a party there. He found the people of heaven dancing at this party. The king of earth liked their dancing, so he asked the king of heaven to give him some of the people to dance at his parties on earth. So the king of heaven gave him an egg and promised to send caretakers for it. The king of earth came down and put the egg under a rock beneath a tree growing by a swamp. During the night, a white chicken and a boa constrictor (Satan) fell down from heaven and landed next to the egg. The hen sat on the egg, and the boa coiled itself around the hen and the egg.

The king of heaven told the king of earth not to check the egg until the end of the ninth month. But, instead of waiting, the king of earth went and checked the egg after seven months and found that it was bad. When he told the king of heaven that the egg was rotten, the king of heaven asked, “Did you look at it before nine months had passed?” When the king of earth admitted he hadn’t waited, the king of heaven said, “You’re the reason why the egg went bad.” He gave him another egg and repeated the same instructions.

This time the king of earth waited the full nine months. When he checked the egg, he found that a man and a woman had hatched from it. The hen left them each day to find food for them, and the boa stayed with them. The boa would give them mud from the swamp to eat, and the hen pulled out her feathers for them to sleep on.

When they got big enough to walk, they began wandering farther from home. The king of heaven made them lose sight of each other for a while. After a time of living apart, they found each other again and knew each other intimately. The woman became pregnant and gave birth. The people left their original home and moved from place to place. The boa took the form of a small child and followed them.

In time, there were many people on earth. When the boa-child saw other children, she would hide herself. But one day a little girl saw her, and she warned the others. The boa-child hid in a small forest, but the children brought their parents back with them, and they found her. Not knowing what else to do, they brought her home into their tata (a traditional Otammari dwelling). Time passed, the families continued to move, and the boa-child followed them.

One night, the boa-child started to play the flute and dance. One of the old men who was a clairvoyant asked her why she was dancing, and she replied that the music and dance were from the king of heaven. She also told him this was the time of year when they needed to celebrate. Thus, the ceremony of Difònnì (male initiation) was born.

Why Kuyie (God) is Distant

Once upon a time, Kuyie lived with men on the earth. It was the easiest thing to meet him and visit with him. Kuyie talked to men and gave them lots of wise counsel. Since he knew everything and could read people’s minds, he did his best to prevent conflict and to set everything right that could affect their happiness. Kuyie hated that men often harmed each other. He wanted his creatures to live in peace. At that time, there was no stealing, no lying, no witchcraft and no curses. It was impossible for men to secretly plan something bad. Kuyie discovered everything, even the most secret thoughts, and revealed it all without offending anybody. He nipped any division in the bud.

The day came when Kuyie’s methods for keeping peace among his creatures began to annoy the big men of earth, and they started grumbling among themselves. “Kuyie is going too far. Our thoughts, our projects, everything is brought before the public. We are forced to refrain from everything that would bring us wealth or fame. This is too much! He prevents us from living free lives. This can’t go on any longer!” And so they managed to conspire against Kuyie. One day they arrested him and tied him up. He didn’t try to defend himself or take revenge. Then they dared to do what could never be repaired: they cut out Kuyie’s tongue so he would never again be able to talk.

Deeply saddened, Kuyie left the earth for good, retreating to an inaccessible place in heaven. Disappointed by his creatures, he abandoned them to the spirits who relished playing nasty tricks on them. All kinds of sicknesses flooded the earth. Jealousy and all its resulting evils appeared, bringing discord, war and death. Everything Kuyie had worked against when he was still living with men thrived in broad daylight. Every man did what he wanted to. Whoever happened to cross his path in the wrong way became his enemy. Most often, disagreements ended in the death of the weakest. Men came to understand what it means to suffer.

In desperation, the people of earth called a big meeting. Questions and requests resounded from every direction. “Let’s resume contact with Kuyie!” “Remember the times when he lived with us? No fights, no jealousy, never. And his voice? Always words of harmony in his mouth.” “But where is he hiding?” Nobody could answer that question. They called on him for many moons, hoping that one day their voices would get through to him. But their pleas were only met by silence. The distance between Kuyie and men was too great to bridge.

Dispairing of reaching Kuyie, the people called out to the spirits of their ancestors who live between earth and heaven. They needed to sense some sort of protection against all the evil that ruled everywhere. This was the beginning of the ancestor worship that still predominates today.

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From these stories, it is easy to see why the Otammari have no personal relationship with God and don’t even consider it possible. It is also easy to see why they don’t perceive Satan, the boa, as their enemy, but as someone who has been protecting and accompanying them from the very beginning.

Pray with us as we develop stories and Bible lessons, that these will bring our friends to an understanding of the real character of God and help them see Satan as he is—the evil one whose goal is to destroy man. We long for them to experience a strong, personal relationship with our loving God and to be free from their current dependency on evil angels masquerading as ancestors.

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