malevolent spirits. After finding his father, Makunaíma finds the "tree of the world", which he cuts down and the resulting stump becomes Mount Roraima. The falling of the tree caused a great cataclysm, with floods and fire, and humans were recreated by Makunaíma. Makunaíma also turned people and animals into stone that are a part of Pemon description of the natural world. Missionary work among Amerindians has impacted Pemon belief; and Jechikrai is the Pemon adaptation of Jesus Christ. "Kueka" stone controversy In 1999, Wolfgang Kraker von Schwarzenfeld arranged the transport of a red stone boulder, weighing about 35 metric tons, from Venezuela's Canaima National Park to Berlin Tiergarten for his "global stone" project. Since that time, a dispute had been ongoing of the Pemon trying to get the stone back, involving German and Venezuelan authorities and embassies. On 16 April 2020, the Kueka stone was finally returned to Venezuela. See also Pemon conflict References Further reading Theodor Koch-Grunberg 1917 – "Vom Roraima Zum Orinoco" ("From Roraima to the Orinoco") David John Thomas 1982 – "Order Without Government: The Society of the Pemon Indians of Venezuela" (University of Illinois Press) External links Pemon Myths and Legends Pemón health Indigenous peoples of the Guianas Indigenous peoples in Brazil Indigenous peoples in Guyana Indigenous peoples in Venezuela