2090 CULTURE CIRCLES
Brightman, Robert. “Forget Culture: Replacement, Transcen-
dence, Relexification.” Cultural Anthropology 10, no. 4
(1995): 509–546. Usefully summarizes critiques of the term
culture, its changing meanings, and its replacement with new
terms.
Burridge, Kenelm. Mambu: A Melanesian Millennium. London,
1960; reprint, Princeton, N.J., 1995. A classic and readable
account of a cargo cult—an example of how Christian beliefs
altered when they entered a new cultural context.
Cronk, Lee. That Complex Whole: Culture and the Evolution of
Human Behavior. Boulder, Colo., 1999. A book describing
approaches to cultural transmission and change drawing on
biological evolutionary theory, sociobiology, and memetics.
Guthrie, Stewart Elliott. Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Reli-
gion. Oxford, 1993. A book exploring the causes and preva-
lence of anthropomorphism, arguing that religion derives
from this tendency to misperceive.
Kroeber, A. L., and Clyde Kluckhohn. Culture: A Critical Review
of Concepts and Definitions. Cambridge, Mass., 1952; re-
print, New York, 1963. A detailed tracing of the culture idea
in the social sciences and humanities, including numerous
quoted definitions.
Lohmann, Roger Ivar, ed. “Perspectives on the Category ‘Super-
natural.’” Special issue, Anthropological Forum 13, no. 2
(2003). A collection of essays debating the value of supernat-
uralism as a culture-neutral concept for describing religions
cross-culturally.
Robbins, Joel. Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment
in a Papua New Guinea Society. Berkeley, Calif., 2004. An
ethnographic description of the cultural changes brought
about by the rapid adoption of Christianity by a remote
people.
Smith, Philip. Cultural Theory: An Introduction. Malden, Mass.,
2001. An excellent and readable overview of cultural theory,
wide-ranging but emphasizing sociology.
Sperber, Dan. Explaining Culture: A Naturalistic Approach. Ox-
ford, 1996. A lucid book that defines culture as mental and
public representations of reality, arguing that to explain cul-
ture, one must show why certain ideas, including religious
beliefs, become more common than others.
Stewart, Charles, and Rosalind Shaw, eds. Syncretism/Anti-
Syncretism: The Politics of Religious Synthesis. London, 1994.
A collection of essays on cross-cultural religious mixing,
known as syncretism—at times a controversial term insofar
as it is used to imply that mixed religions are less authentic
than others.
Strauss, Claudia, and Naomi Quinn. A Cognitive Theory of Cultur-
al Meaning. Cambridge, U.K., 1998. A sophisticated treat-
ment of culture that responds to critics of the concept by
drawing on cognitive theory to remove culture’s abstraction.
Tylor, Edward B. Primitive Culture: Researches into the Develop-
ment of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Language, Art, and
Custom. 2d ed. 2 vols. New York, 1877. The Victorian
source of the extremely influential first anthropological defi-
nition of culture, this book proposes a now dated evolution-
ary model of cultural and religious advancement, but never-
theless contains much of lasting value.
ROGER IVAR LOHMANN (2005)
CULTURE CIRCLES SEE
KULTURKREISELEHRE
CULTURE HEROES. The culture hero is a mythical
being found in the religious traditions of many archaic socie-
ties. Although the culture hero sometimes assists the supreme
being in the creation of the world, the most important activi-
ty for the culture hero occurs after creation: making the
world habitable and safe for humankind. The culture hero
establishes institutions for humans, brings them cultural
goods, and instructs them in the arts of civilization. Thus,
the hero introduces culture to human beings.
The culture hero, unlike the supreme being, is neither
omniscient nor omnipotent. In some cases, the hero’s behav-
ior resembles that of a clown or buffoon; in the myths of
many North American Indian tribes the culture hero appears
as the trickster. Various scholars have referred to the culture
hero as transformer, demiurge, culture bringer, héros civili-
sateur, and, most frequently, Heilbringer.
HISTORY OF SCHOLARSHIP. The German historian Kurt
Breysig first introduced the term Heilbringer in 1905. Since
then, the idea of the culture hero has been interpreted in vari-
ous ways. Early interpretations emphasized the place of the
culture hero in the evolution of the idea of a supreme being.
Breysig, for example, saw the culture hero as belonging to
a stage of religious development that was not only earlier
than, but also inferior to, humankind’s awareness of a per-
sonal supreme being. The German ethnologist Paul Ehren-
reich, in developing his theory of “nature mythology,” inter-
preted the myths about culture heroes as attempts by
primitive humans to understand their natural surroundings.
Ehrenreich saw in the culture hero the embodiment of the
structure and rhythms of natural phenomena, for example,
the rising and setting of the sun, the waxing and waning of
the moon, and the movement of the stars and constellations.
On the other hand, Wilhelm Schmidt, an ethnologist and
historian of religions, was the chief proponent of the doctrine
of primitive monotheism (Urmonotheismus). Theorizing that
even early humans believed in a supreme being, he contend-
ed that the Heilbringer was never a genuine creator and that
the form appeared in archaic societies after, not before, the
idea of the supreme being.
The interpretations of Breysig, Ehrenreich, and
Schmidt have been rejected by later students of culture and
historians of religions, who, having access to more and differ-
ent ethnological data, have recognized the autonomy and
complexity of the culture hero. Scholars such as Hermann
Baumann, Adolf E. Jensen, Mircea Eliade, Otto Zerries, Raf-
faele Pettazzoni, and Harry Tegnaeus have made significant
contributions to a new appreciation and understanding of
the culture hero. Rather than pursue an evolutionary ap-
proach, these scholars have examined the relation between
the details of the myths and the historical and cultural reali-
ties of the archaic societies—their economic activity, their
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, SECOND EDITION

political and social institutions, and their attitude toward
space, time, and mortality.
CHARACTERISTIC ACTIVITIES. In many of the myths that tell
of the culture hero’s exploits, the culture hero is portrayed
as setting the stage for human survival. The myth of the Ji-
carilla Apaches of the southwestern United States tells how
the culture hero Jonayaiuin saved humanity by destroying
huge monsters that were killing people. By removing this
threat of annihilation, the culture hero made the world fit
for human habitation. The Malecite Indians of northern
Maine tell that long ago a monster, Aglabem, withheld all
the water in the world, causing people to die of thirst. Their
culture hero, referred to as “a great man,” killed Aglabem and
released the waters by felling a huge tree. This tree became
the Saint John River; its branches, the tributaries of the river;
its leaves, the ponds and lakes at the heads of the streams.
To the tellers of this myth, the shape of the landscape is evi-
dence that the culture hero made the world fit for human
life.
In various ways, the culture hero creates distinctions be-
tween humans and animals. The Tupian peoples of the Ama-
zon basin in eastern Brazil believe that Korupira, a deity who
is referred to as “lord of the beasts,” protects wild game
against human hunters. Korupira has the power to close the
forest to hunters and punish those who kill his animals need-
lessly. The Mbuti, hunters and gatherers who inhabit the
rain forest of central Africa, are one of many groups who
credit their culture hero with bringing them fire. The Mbuti
hero, Tore, stole fire, much to the chagrin of the neighboring
chimpanzees, and gave it to humankind. From that time on,
humans have enjoyed the use of fire while chimpanzees have
lived in the forest without it. In the stories of numerous so-
cieties, the culture hero introduced humans to speech and
manners, established the social differences between males
and females, and instituted the laws of society.
The culture hero is also perceived as making economic
life possible for humans. According to the myths of the San
(Bushmen), a hunting and gathering people living in South
Africa and Namibia, the culture hero Kaang created all wild
game and gave the animals their colors, names, and charac-
teristics. He taught the San how to make bows, poisoned ar-
rows, traps, and snares, and he instructed them in hunting
techniques. Tudava, the culture hero of the Trobriand Is-
landers, not only taught the Trobrianders how to build ca-
noes and to fish but introduced them to the cultivation of
yams and taros, the first root crops. Nyikang, the culture
hero and first king of the Shilluk, pastoral nomads of East
Africa, is said to have been the son of a cow. He released the
waters and provided grazing land for the Shilluk’s cattle.
Among the Dogon people of Mali, West Africa, the twin cul-
ture heroes known as Nommo are credited with bringing the
first millet seeds from heaven to earth and with teaching the
arts of blacksmithing and pottery.
In numerous myths, the culture hero is connected with
the origin of death. In a story told by the Khoi (Hottentots)
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, SECOND EDITION
CULTURE HEROES 2091
of South Africa, the moon sends an insect to tell humans that
after they die they will come back to life, as the moon does.
The culture hero, Hare, overtakes the insect and volunteers
to carry the message. However, Hare delivers the opposite
message to humans, saying that they will perish forever.
Through the adventures in which they ensure human
survival, institute the difference between humans and ani-
mals, introduce humankind to social and economic activity,
and originate human mortality, the culture heros save the
human race from chaos. They order and arrange the world,
introducing humankind to the possibilities of human cre-
ativity.
BIRTH OF THE CULTURE HERO. The culture hero is able to
perform these feats because he is imbued with power; he
comes from another world. His divine origin is revealed in
his parentage and in the supernatural nature of his birth. Tu-
dava, the culture hero of the Trobriand Islanders, was said
to have been born of a mother who became pregnant while
sleeping in a cave, when her vagina was pierced by water
dripping from a stalactite. The mother of Manabozho, the
culture hero of the Menomini tribe of North America, was
made pregnant by the wind. The mother of the culture hero
of the Dinka of East Africa came to earth already pregnant.
Among several African peoples, the culture hero was born
from the knee or thigh of a man or woman. Regardless of
the way the culture hero is born, his origin is not of this
world.
DISAPPEARANCE AND TRANSMUTATION. After setting the
world in order for humankind, the culture hero usually dis-
appears. Sometimes the culture hero is killed while conquer-
ing monsters; frequently returning to a point of origin—into
the sky or earth. In the myths of several peoples, the culture
hero is transformed into the moon or stars or constellations.
In other instances, particularly among the Australian tribes,
the culture hero disappears into the earth at a specific spot,
which is marked by a stone, a plant, or a body of water. Such
a place, imbued as it is with power, becomes the site of the
tribe’s initiation and increase ceremonies.
One of the dramatic myths of the disappearance and
transformation of a culture hero is that of the people on the
island of Ceram in Indonesia, reported by the German eth-
nologist Adolf E. Jensen. The principal culture hero, Hainu-
wele, who in this case was a maiden, was murdered by other
beings in mythical times. Their punishment, imposed by
Hainuwele’s sister, was that they were forced to consume the
body of their victim. Then the body of Hainuwele was trans-
formed into useful root crops, which before that time had
not existed. Her sister became mistress of the underworld.
This primeval murder signaled the end of mythical time and
the beginning of the historical world.
The events leading up to the murder and transformation
of Hainuwele established the institution of cannibalism
among the people of Ceram. It also established the initiation
ceremony: The young men must kill, imitating the primordi-
al murder of Hainuwele as part of their rite of passage to
2092 CULTURE HEROES
manhood. Further consequences of this murder were the cul-
tivation of root crops, the delineation of the people into sepa-
rate clans, the establishment of cult houses, the separation
of humans from ghosts and spirits, and the establishment of
rules governing entrance to the mythical land of the afterlife.
Jensen’s research demonstrated the significance of the mur-
dered culture hero among those peoples who practice root
crop cultivation.
In the mythology of the Cheyenne of North America,
maize originated from the murdered body of their culture
hero. The transmutation of the culture hero into food, how-
ever, is not limited to the myths of agricultural societies. The
Central Inuit (Eskimo) tell of Sedna, a female culture hero,
who was murdered by her father. Different sea animals
emerged from parts of her mutilated body—whales from her
fingers, whale bones from her fingernails, and seals from the
second joints of her fingers. As in the case of Hainuwele’s
sister, Sedna became the mistress of the underworld.
VARIOUS MANIFESTATIONS. The culture hero often appears
as twins, who usually symbolize opposites. They may be of
different sexes. Frequently the elder is the hero while the
younger is depicted as foolish and inept. The twin heroes of
the Iroquois of North America are brothers who have differ-
ent fathers: One, who represents good, is the son of the sun,
while his brother, who represents evil, is the son of the
waters.
While Hainuwele, Sedna, and many other culture he-
roes are anthropomorphic, the culture heroes of many socie-
ties are theriomorphic. In Oceania, the culture hero is fre-
quently a snake; in South America he is often a jaguar. In
many tribes of North America and Africa, the culture hero
appears as an animal or insect and has the characteristics of
a trickster. Ananse the spider, the culture hero of many of
the peoples of West Africa, is popularly known as “the fool-
ish one”; the southern African San’s culture hero, Praying
Mantis, is seen as a mischievous trickster. Among North
American tribes, the coyote, the hare, the mink, the chip-
munk, and the crow are common forms of the trickster.
In many instances, the activities of the trickster parallel
those of other culture heroes: The trickster destroys mon-
sters, creates animals, and introduces humans to various
forms of technology and social institutions. However, the
trickster’s adventures are also marked by failures and stum-
blings, deceptions and lies, awkwardness and crudity. Trick-
sters are often portrayed as oversexed, gluttonous, and amor-
al. They continually violate the institutions and prohibitions
they had established. They can be alternately gracious and
cruel, truthful and mendacious.
The American anthropologist Paul Radin (1956) inter-
prets the figure of the trickster and the trickster’s adventures
as symbolic of humankind’s development from an undiffer-
entiated psyche to a differentiated and individual one. The
adventures of the trickster, Radin contends, are symbolic of
the movement from a state of asociality or nonsociality to
one of sociality, from isolation to being a part of the commu-
nity. The trickster not only creates or modifies the physical
and social environment of humankind; by violation of the
social rules and the contempt the trickster exhibits toward
sacred objects, the trickster creates a kind of internal space
for humankind. The trickster legitimates rebellion and dis-
obedience by constantly challenging the status quo of the
cosmos.
The phenomenon of the culture hero is very complex.
Although the hero usually appears as male, some cultures
have a culture heroine. In some societies, the hero is the ob-
ject of a cult; in others he or she is not. Sometimes the culture
hero appears as the offspring of the supreme being and assists
in creation; in other instances, the culture hero is the su-
preme being’s adversary. Visible forms of the culture hero
range from human to animal, from insect to heavenly body.
Having completed his or her task on earth, the culture
hero disappears, sometimes ascending to the sky or descend-
ing to the underworld. Occasionally the culture hero is trans-
formed into a natural phenomenon such as the stars or the
moon, while in some religious traditions the hero’s parting
accounts for shapes in the landscape.
In spite of the multifarious forms and adventures of the
culture hero as they appears in different cultures, the culture
hero clearly discloses one characteristic: The culture hero’s
mode of being reveals the sacrality of cultural and social insti-
tutions and activities that constitute the context of ordinary
life for humankind. Participation in these activities by the
people of archaic societies provides meaning and value to
their lives and enables them to live in a sacred cosmos.
SEE ALSO Animals; Cosmogony; Death; Lord of the Ani-
mals; Tricksters; Twins.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A general discussion of the culture hero can be found in the chap-
ter entitled “Mythische Urzeitwesen und Heilbringer” in
Ferdinand Hermann’s Symbolik in den Religionen der Natur-
völker (Stuttgart, 1961), pp. 98–109. This book also contains
an excellent bibliography. Two good books on the culture
hero in Africa are Hermann Baumann’s Schöpfung und Urzeit
des Menschen im Mythus der afrikanischen Völker (Berlin,
1936) and Harry Tegnaeus’s Le héros civilisateur (Stockholm,
1950). Otto Zerries’s Wild- und Buschgeister in Sudamerika
(Weisbaden, 1954) is an exhaustive study of the culture hero
in the myths of hunting and gathering cultures in South
America. The role of the culture hero among archaic cultiva-
tors is discussed in Adolf E. Jensen’s Myth and Cult among
Primitive Peoples (Chicago, 1963). This book also treats the
relation of the culture hero to the supreme being. The pio-
neering work on the trickster figure among North American
Indians in Paul Radin’s The Trickster: A Study in American
Indian Mythology (New York, 1956). A readable and enlight-
ening critique of Radin’s position can be found in Mac Lin-
scott Ricketts’s “The North American Indian Trickster,”
History of Religions 5 (Winter 1966): 327–350. Robert D.
Pelton, in The Trickster in West Africa: A Study of Mythic
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION, SECOND EDITION