Editing Degei (section)

== In popular culture ==
[[Friedrich Ratzel]] in ''The History of Mankind''<ref>Ratzel, Friedrich. ''The History of Mankind''. (London: MacMillan, 1896). URL: [http://www.inquirewithin.biz/history/american_pacific/oceania/melanesian-tattooing.htm www.inquirewithin.biz/history/american_pacific/oceania/melanesian-tattooing.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706145448/http://www.inquirewithin.biz/history/american_pacific/oceania/melanesian-tattooing.htm |date=2011-07-06 }} accessed 21 October 2009.</ref> reported in 1896 a religious practice enjoined by Degei that involved [[tattoo]]ing women on the lower part of the body and the thigh, the corner of the mouth, and the finger.

R.A. Derrick (1957:11) says:<ref>R.A. Derrick</ref>

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"In these traditions Degei figures not only as the origin of the people, but also as a huge snake, living in a [[cave]] near the summit of the mountain Uluda – the northernmost peak of the [[Nakauvandra River|Nakauvandra]] Range. Earth tremors and [[thunder]] were ascribed as his uneasy turnings within the cave. He took no interest in his people’s affairs; his existence was no more than a round of eating and sleeping. By association with him, snakes were honoured as ‘the Offspring of the origin’. The [[Snake worship|snake cult]] was generally throughout the group."
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