Grandmother Ateyo
From the Early Pandora Wiki Na'vi legend Wiki lore Canon
Grandmother Ateyo was an elder and storyteller of the Omatikaya clan. She is best known for telling The Duck-Suckers of Pandora to two children, Sìl and her little brother Ri'tay, on a warm night inside Hometree. Na'vi legend
She lived many hundreds of generations after the Age of the Great Swamps, so she never saw a Taktswìkyu or a tak herself. She knew them only from the stories that had been passed down to her. Wiki lore
Appearance
Ateyo had a wrinkled face, glowing dots across her cheeks and bright yellow eyes that sparkled whenever a story reached its exciting part. She wrapped herself in a woven blanket on cool nights. Na'vi legend Wiki lore adds that her queue had turned silver-blue with age, and that she wore a necklace of polished seed pods, one for every child she had taught to tell a story. By the end of her life it hung almost to her knees. Wiki lore
Early life
Ateyo was born in Hometree during a year of heavy rains, which her family took as a sign she would be "a keeper of water stories." As a girl she was more interested in listening than hunting. She would sit at the edge of the elders' fire long after the other children had gone to sleep. Wiki lore
Her own grandmother, a weaver named Ma'li, taught her the duck-sucker legend when Ateyo was about seven, the same age Ri'tay was when Ateyo told it to him. Ma'li gave her one rule: "You may add one small thing of your own, but you must never take anything away." Wiki lore
Becoming a storyteller
The Na'vi have no writing, so their history and wisdom live in songs and stories passed from grandparent to grandchild. Canon Ateyo spent many years learning the clan's stories word for word before she was allowed to tell them at the great fire. Wiki lore says a young Omatikaya storyteller had to recite one long story perfectly, three nights in a row, before the elders would say "Your words are ready." Wiki lore
Ateyo's one addition to the duck-sucker legend is the part where the starving plant slurps up a hunter's foot and spits out his sandal. She added it because she noticed children's faces grew too sad near the end, and "a sad story still needs one laugh in it." Wiki lore
Her stories
Ateyo knew hundreds of stories. Na'vi storytellers sort them into kinds, and she was famous for telling every kind. Wiki lore
| Story | Kind of story | What it teaches |
|---|---|---|
| The Duck-Suckers of Pandora | Warning story | Take only what you need Na'vi legend |
| How the Tak Got Its Glow | "Why" story | A mother tak asked Eywa for a light so her ducklings would never be lost in the dark. Eywa answered by lighting her tail. Care for those smaller than you. Wiki lore |
| The Ikran Who Chose Twice | Bonding story | A proud banshee tried to bond with a second rider and fell from the sky. That is why an ikran bonds with only one Na'vi in its whole life. Canon Wiki lore |
| The Thanator Who Lost Its Roar | Funny story | A boastful thanator roared so often it wore out its voice, and the smallest animals stopped being afraid of it. Being loud is not the same as being strong. Wiki lore |
| Naranawm Is Watching | Sky story | Why the great eye of Polyphemus hangs low and orange on some nights: it is looking closely to see who is being greedy. Wiki lore |
| Entu and the Last Shadow | Hero story | Ateyo's version of the First Flight, when Entu became the first Toruk Makto to save the Tree of Souls. Courage is for others, not for yourself. Canon Wiki lore |
| The Song That Ninat Sang | Remembering song | The song Ninat sang for the lost tak and Taktswìkyu. Ateyo sang it whenever an animal grew rare, so the clan would notice before it was too late. Wiki lore |
| Why the Loreyu Hides | Short "why" story | A one-minute version of the duck-sucker legend she told toddlers while walking past loreyu on the riverbank. Wiki lore |
The kinds of stories
- Warning stories show what happens when someone breaks the balance of nature.
- "Why" stories explain how something came to be, like why the loreyu curls up.
- Bonding stories are about the link between the Na'vi and animals made through the queue.
- Funny stories are told after a long hunt or on rainy days to cheer everyone up.
- Sky stories are about Polyphemus, the other moons and the stars.
- Hero stories are about brave Na'vi, especially the six Toruk Makto.
- Remembering songs honour creatures, places and people that are gone.
Wiki lore
How she told stories
Ateyo acted her stories out. She tapped her fingers to make the tak-tak call, puffed out her cheeks for the plant's bloop, and held her two hands level like a scale to show balance. She always ended with a question for her listeners instead of an answer. Na'vi legend Wiki lore
She had three rules for listeners, which Omatikaya children still repeat: "Ears open. Hands still. Hearts ready." Wiki lore
Later life
In her old age Ateyo could no longer climb to the high branches of Hometree, so the children came down to her. Her hammock near the roots became known as "the story place." She taught more than two hundred young Na'vi to tell stories, and she remembered every one of their names. Wiki lore
Her favourite student was Sìl, the curious girl from the duck-sucker legend. Sìl grew up to become the clan's next great storyteller. Wiki lore
Her passing
Wiki lore says Ateyo lived to about 160 years, a very long life even for a Na'vi. She passed away peacefully on a quiet night of the Long Rains season, the same kind of weather she had been born in. Her family said she had "gone to join the great story." Wiki lore
The farewell
The Na'vi believe that when someone dies, their body returns to the forest and their memories join Eywa, where those who are still living can hear them at sacred trees. As Neytiri says in the first film, all energy is only borrowed, and one day you have to give it back. Canon
For Ateyo, the clan held a farewell in the Omatikaya way: Wiki lore
- The night of stories. The whole clan gathered at the story place. One by one, her students told her stories back to her, each adding the one small thing they had added over the years.
- The silent walk. At dawn her family carried her, wrapped in her woven blanket, down to the riverbank where the loreyu grow.
- Returning to Eywa. She was laid in the soft earth among the roots of a great tree near the river, with her seed-pod necklace. The clan sang Ninat's remembering song.
- The loreyu bow. As the last note faded, the loreyu along the river curled down into the ground all at once, even though no one had touched them. The clan believed it was the plants saying goodbye.
- A seed for the river. Each child she had taught planted one loreyu seed along the riverbank. Today the stretch is thick with spiral plants, and the Omatikaya call it Ateyo's Bend.
Legacy
Ateyo's stories are still told, and her version of the duck-sucker legend is the best known of them. Storytellers who visit the Tree of Voices say that if you listen carefully you can still hear her voice, finishing a story with a question. Wiki lore
When an Omatikaya child takes more than they need, elders often say just two words: "Remember Ateyo." Wiki lore
Famous lines
"Balance is a very easy thing to lose." Na'vi legend
"Take only what you need." Na'vi legend
"A sad story still needs one laugh in it." Wiki lore
"You may add one small thing of your own, but you must never take anything away." Wiki lore