Mama Uqllu

In Inca origin narratives Mama Uqllu appears among the primary progenitor generation who found and civilize the Inca people. In one common tradition she is described as a daughter of Inti (the sun) and Mama Killa (the moon); in alternative accounts she is placed as a daughter of the creator Viracocha (Wiraqucha) and Mama Qucha (sea goddess). She is usually paired with Manco Cápac as his sister and wife; together they are credited with founding the city of Cusco and establishing the institutions of Inca society. Some versions of the lineage identify subsequent rulers (for example Sinchi Roca) as their descendants, linking Mama Uqllu directly to dynastic legitimation.

Provided sources do not record consistent physical descriptions or iconography for Mama Uqllu. Colonial and modern summaries emphasize her genealogical and functional roles—mother, teacher, and culture-bringer—rather than a fixed anthropomorphic depiction; no specific attributes, garments, or symbolic implements are described in the cited materials.

Mama Uqllu is portrayed primarily as a civilizing teacher and maternal archetype. Sources attribute to her the instruction of women in weaving cloth and the teaching of house-building and other domestic arts, marking her as the patron of essential household and technical skills. She is also associated with fertility and reproductive domains—explicitly glossed in at least one source as 'mother fertility'—and is described in some accounts as goddess of marriage and the menstrual cycle. Her agency in the myths is constructive and legitimizing rather than harmful: she functions to establish social order, transmit cultural knowledge, and anchor dynastic descent.