Ak Ana

Ak Ana, ‘the Holy Mother’, was the primordial creator goddess of the Turkic peoples, known also to the Khanty and Mansi of Siberia. She was the daughter and consort of Kayra. Water was held to have been made before the earth, so she was the earth’s elder sister.

In one creation myth, Kayra flew as a white goose over the endless waters until Ak Ana urged him to create. A sacred duck then brought up silt from the bottom, from which the earth was made.