An initial illustrative interpretation of the Kagwahiva myth Anhaḡa'avukuhua from Indigenous oral accounts

Among the Kagwahiva (Tenharim) people of the Brazilian Amazon, beings commonly classified in Western discourse as “fantastic” or “supernatural” are understood as part of an expanded and lived reality. This article presents an initial interpretive illustration of Anhaḡa’avukuhua, a mythical non-human entity described in Indigenous oral narratives collected during ethnographic fieldwork. Based on interviews conducted with community members recognized for their knowledge of cosmological and symbolic domains, the study explores how descriptive, affective, and symbolic elements converge in the visual translation of this being. The illustration discussed here is not intended as a literal depiction, but as an interpretive ethnographic artifact, grounded in interlocutors’ accounts and shaped through reflexive analytical procedures. By articulating oral narratives, thematic analysis, and visual mediation, the article examines how Indigenous cosmological knowledge may be communicated through visual forms while respecting its relational and experiential dimensions.