Qat (deity)

Qat (or Qet, Kpwet, Iqet, Ikpwet etc. – see below) is the principal god in the oral mythology of the Banks Islands, a small archipelago of northern Vanuatu, Melanesia.

Although Qat was never formally worshipped as a deity, the folklore of these once animist populations traditionally referred, and still does, to Qat as the spirit to whom we humans owe several elements of our culture: the world itself (in the form of the Torres and Banks archipelagoes); Night; Death; women; marriage rules and incest prohibition; as well as the song language in use throughout the area, locally known as "the language of Qat".

This mythological figure has connections with the god known as Tagaro in other parts of Vanuatu.

He is called Qat (pronounced [k͡pʷat]) in Mota, an Oceanic language which was first documented by Robert Codrington at the end of the 19th century. He is known under other names and pronunciations in the languages of neighbouring Banks and Torres islands:Qet [k͡pʷɛt]; Iqet [ik͡pʷɛt]; Qo’ [k͡pʷɔʔ]; Merawehih [məˌrawəˈhih]; and so on.

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