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Watunna and Ogichidag

Based on the folklore of Venezuela's Yekuana Indians, 'Watunna' tells an animated creation story. It begins with a good spirit who creates a likeness of himself on earth. When the likeness is born, however, it buries its placenta, which grows into an evil man who brings war and other evils into the world. The good spirit turns the evil people into animals as punishment. Later, he tells his nephew to guard a stone in which the spirits of many good people are kept. While his uncle is gone, however, the boy digs into his magic bag and lets out the darkness. The people are scared by the darkness, but a messenger from heaven soon delivers the sun, moon, and stars. The tale instills women with the power to harbor piranhas inside themselves, to house fire in their stomachs, and to turn into toads at will. At the conclusion of the piece, men dancing by a fire turn into colorful birds and fly up into the air, shedding many of their feathers. As a snakelike water queen leaps into the air, the feathers cling to her, and she forms the first rainbow. In the second segment, "Ogichidag" ('Warriors'), Jim Northrup reads a poem about the history of military men in his family and says that he himself joined the United States Marine Corps just in time for the Cuban Missile Crisis, and fought in Vietnam, the only war America didn't win. His son is a warrior now as well, and Northrup wonders what good can come out of it. Commercials deleted. This program is closed-captioned.

English
  • Originally Aired August 8, 1992
  • Runtime 25 minutes
  • Network PBS
  • Notes Is the series finale
  • Created July 22, 2021 by
    poopbucket
  • Modified July 22, 2021 by
    poopbucket