Warao Myth 2: The Origin of Stars

This myth from the Warao people of the Orinoco Delta appears in a book by the French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss called "The Raw and The Cooked: Introduction to a Science of Mythology", a sometimes head-scratchingly intense attempt to tease abstract meanings out of indigenous myths from across the Americas and show the psychological patterns underlying them.

Levi-Strauss, who died aged 100 in October 2009, was an inspired thinker who tried to deconstruct indigenous mythology to try and answer fundamental questions about human thought and motivation and the differences between the "raw" elements of nature and the "cooked" elements of human culture.

Although sometimes baffling in places, my dog-eared copy of "The Raw and the Cooked" has been a constant companion on my travels into the jungle regions of Venezuela ever since I bought it in the British Museum bookshop in 1989.

Frustratingly, most of the Venezuelan myths Levi-Strauss refers to in the book are only presented in summary form but this Warao myth is published in its entirety.

The Origin of the Stars

Once upon a time there were two brothers, the elder of whom was a celebrated hunter. Each day he went farther afield in search of game, with the result that finally he came to creek he had never seen before. He climbed into a tree standing at its edge so as to watch for the animals that came to drink. Suddenly he saw a woman wading through the water toward him and he thought her behaviour very curious. Each time she put her hand into the creek she brought out two fish, and each time she ate one of them and put the other into her basket.

She was a very big woman, a supernatural being. On her head she was wearing a calabash, which she occasionally took off and threw into the water in such a way as to make it spin like a top. When she did this, she would stop to watch it, and afterwards she would walk on again.

The hunter spent the night up the tree and returned to the village the next day. He told the story to his young brother, who begged to go with him in order to see "such a woman who can catch so many fish and can eat them as well."

"No", was the reply,, "because you are always laughing at everything and you might laugh at her."

But the young man promised to keep a straight face, and the elder brother allowed himself to be persuaded.

When they reached the stream, the elder brother climbed into his tree, which stood a little way back from the edge; the younger one insisted on taking up his position in a better-placed tree, so as to miss nothing, and he sat on a branch overhanging the water. The woman soon arrived and began behaving as before.

When she reached the spot directly beneath the young brother, she noticed the reflection of his shadow in the water. She tried to catch hold of it, and when she failed, kept on trying.

She put her hand in quickly, first to this side and then that, but of course she did not succeed, and what with all her queer gesticulations and funny capers she made so ridiculous an appearance that the brother up above could not resist laughing at her vain attempts to seize the substance of the shadow. He laughed and laughed and could not stop laughing.

Thereupon, the woman looked up and spied the two brothers. Furious at having been laughed at, she launched an attack with poisonous ants (Eciton species [New World army ants]); they bit and stung the boy so badly that to escape from them, he had to throw himself into the water, where the woman caught him and ate him.

Afterwards, she captured the other brother and put him in her well-secured basket. On returning to her hut, she put the basket down and forbade her two daughters to touch it.

But as soon as her back was turned, her daughters lost no time in opening it. They were delighted with the hero's physical appearance and his talents as a hunter. Both of them, indeed, feel in love with him, and the younger one hid him in her hammock.

When the time came for the ogress to kill and eat her prisoner, the daughters confessed to their misdeeds. The mother agreed to spare her unexpected son-in-law, on condition that he go fishing on her behalf. But however big the catch he brought back, the ogress would devour it all, apart from two fish. Eventually, the hero was so worn out that he fell ill.

The younger daughter, who was by now his wife, agreed to run away with him. One day he told his mother-in-law that he had left his catch in his canoe, and that she should go and fetch it (a fisherman was not supposed to carry the fish himself, since this would spoil his luck). However, he had arranged for a an alligator to be under the canoe, and the ogress was devoured.

The elder daughter, discovered the murder, sharpened her knife and pursued the culprit.

When she was about to catch up with him, he ordered his wife to climb a tree, and followed after her. But he was not quick enough to prevent his sister-in-law cutting off one of his legs.

The detached member sprang to life and became the mother of birds (Tinamus species).

You can still see, in the night sky, the hero's wife (the Pleiades); lower down, the hero himself (the Hyades) and lower still, his severed leg - Orion's belt.

Watunna - An Orinoco Creation Cycle

One of the finest books ever published on South American indigenous myths, "Watunna", by French-born geologist Marc de Civrieux contains the epic history and creation myths of the So'to (also known as Makiritare, Maquiritare, Dekuana and Yekuana) - a rainforest people of the Upper Caura and nothern bank of the Orinoco rivers.

Civrieux's comprehensive overview of So'to myth was the culmination of nearly 30 years of travel and study among Venezuela's indigenous groups.

Watunna first came out in Spanish in 1970 to great acclaim, although it was 10 years until the US anthropologist David Guss, from Tufts University, published an English version, expanded to include Civrieux's retelling of the "Medatia" myth cycle, which recounts the origins of shamanism.

"Watunna" presents myths explaining the discovery of fire, the origins of evil on Earth, of the night, of sexuality and food, and the story of the first rain, which gave birth to the rivers.

The following is an extract from "Watunna: An Orinoco Myth Cycle"

Seruhe Ianadi
There was Kahuña, the Sky Place. The Kahuhana lived there, just like now. They're good, wise people. And they were in the beginning too. They never died.

There was no sickness, no evil, no war. The whole world was Sky. No one worked. No one looked for food. Food was always there, ready.

There were no animals, no demons, no clouds, no winds. There was just light.

In the highest Sky was Wanadi, just like now. He gave his light to the people, to the Kahuhana.

He lit everything down to the very bottom, down to Nono, the Earth. Because of that light, the people were always happy. They had life. They couldn't die.

There was no separation between Sky and Earth. Sky had no door like it does now. There was no night, like now. Wanadi is like a sun that never sets. It was always day. The Earth was like a part of the Sky.

The Kahuhana had many houses and villages in Kahuña and they were all filled with light. No one lived on the Earth. There was no one there, nothing, just the Earth and nothing else.

Wanadi said: "I want to make people down there."

He sent his messenger, a damodede. He was born here to make houses and good people, like in the Sky Place.

That damodede was Wanadi's spirit. He was the Earth's first Wanadi, made by the other Wanadi who lives in Kahuña. That other Wanadi never came down to the Earth. The one that came was the other's spirit.

Later on, two more damodede came here. They were other forms of Wanadi's spirit.

The first Wanadi to come was called Seruhe Ianadi, the Wise. When he came, he brought knowledge, tobacco, the maraca, and the wiriki. He smoked and he sang and he made the old people.

That was a long time before us, the people of today.

When that spirit was born, he cut his navel-cord and buried the placenta. He didn't know. Now the worms got into the placenta and they started to eat it. The placenta rotted.

As it rotted, it gave birth to a man, a human creature, ugly and evil and all covered with hair like an animal.

It was Kahu.

He has different names. They call him Kahushawa and Odosha too. This man was very evil.

He was jealous of Wanadi. He wanted to be master of the Earth. Because of him, we suffer now. There's hunger, sickness and war. He's the father of all the Odoshankomo. Now, because of him, we die.

When that old Wanadi's placenta rotted, Odosha sprang out of the Earth like a spear.

He said: "This Earth is mine. Now there's going to be war. I'm going to chase Wanadi out of here."

He misled those people who had just been born. He taught them to kill. There was a man fishing. He had lots of fish. Odosha told them: "If you kill him, you'll have lots of fish."

They killed him. Odosha was happy. Then the people were turned into animals as punishment.

Because of Odosha, Seruhe lanadi couldn't do anything on Earth. He went back to the Sky and left the old people as animals with Odosha.

He didn't leave any of Wanadi's people on the Earth though. That was the end of the first people.

The birth of Kahu on that old Earth is a sign to us, the people of today. When a baby is born, we should never bury the placenta. The worms get it. It rots.

Another Odosha will come again, like in the beginning to hurt the baby, to kill it.

Like what happened when Kahu fought against Wanadi for control of the Earth. When a baby is born, we put the placenta in a nest of white ants. It's safe there. The worms can't get it.

That was the story of the old people. That's all.

To purchase "Watunna: An Orinoco Creation Cycle" click here:

Kariña Myth 2: Kaputa and the Great Flood

This Kariña myth recounts the arrival on Earth of the creator god Kaputa, who comes to warn his people that a great flood is coming. Many similarities have been drawn between this story and the Biblical flood story of Noah and the Ark. The idea of all the animals entering the great canoe in pairs and the seeds of all the plants also being stored is very similar.

Whether it is an adaptation of the biblical story passed on to the Kariña by missionaries and adapted by them, or an original Kariña myth is almost impossible to say, although the annual flooding of the major rivers in Venezuela during the rainy season has given rise to many myths. The text is taken from Father Cesareo de Armellada´s book: "Literaturas Indigenas de Venezuela" (Monte Avila Editores, 1991).

The Great Canoe

One day Kaputa came to the land of the Kariñas to tell them that the world was going to be flooded and nobody would survive unless they quickly built a great canoe and got in.

- My children, a great rain is going to fall. It will rain for many nights and many days.

But out of all the Indians only four couples were afraid; the rest didn't believe him.

- My children, help me to build a canoe we can all get in before the rains swell the rivers. That way we won't drown.

- What do you mean everything's going to be flooded? That just couldn't happen, they said, unconvinced.

- I am Kaputa, the father and creator of the Kariña. I don't want my children to die

- You're not Kaputa, the Indians said, except for the four couples who began to build a great canoe.

When they had finished they began to put different animals inside in pairs, and a seed for each plant.

Then the day turned to night as the sky darkened and it began to rain for months without stopping.

The rivers broke their banks and flooded the land. The water rose so high that it covered the highest trees.

When the flooding began everybody wanted to get into the great canoe but Kaputa said:

- You thought I wasn't kaputa! You didn't want to build the canoe! Well, now you will drown.

Translated by Russell Maddicks

Kariña Myth 1: The Twins and the Origin of Yuca

Maria Lionza - indigenous myth or folk legend?

This is just one version of the many myths that have been linked to Maria Lionza, the cult figure from Yaracuy State who is venerated throughout Venezuela.

With so little known about the origins of the cult it is impossible to know if Maria Lionza was a real historical figure or if the legends refer to an Indian girl from one of the historical tribes that inhabited the area around Chivacoa, where the sacred mountain of Sorte is located.

What is clear is that adherents of the cult, who refer to her simply as "La Reina" ("The Queen"), have continuously added stories and attributes to this local folk figure to increase her importance and power.

Adding to the confusion is the iconography of Maria Lionza. In some images she is shown as a Virgin Mary figure, others depict a European-looking lady with green eyes, an elegant dress and a crown.

The most famous image of her is the statue by Alejandro Colina which was placed on the Francisco Fajardo Freeway in Caracas in 1953 by the dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez. It shows a muscular indigenous woman sitting astride a tapir and holding aloft a female pelvis.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s the cult became more widespread as people from the countryside moved to Caracas and other big cities. It was also a time when writers and artists were looking back to Venezuela's indigenous past in response to a spate of archaeological finds from the late 1930s and there was a conscious attempt to link "La Reina" to this rediscovered past.

Yara, or Maria Lionza as she was known afterwards, was an indigenous princess. She was the daughter of Yaracuy, the chief of the Nivar tribe, the granddaughter of Chief Chilua and the great-granddaughter of Chief Yare, all great warriors and leaders.

The birth of Maria Lionza must have occurred around the year 1535 in the state that today is named after her father.

The shaman of the village had predicted before Yara was born that if a girl was born with strange, watery-green eyes, she would have to sacrificed and offered to the Master of the Waters, the Great Anaconda, because if not it would lead to the ruin and extinction of the Nivar tribe.

However, her father was unable to sacrifice her and so he hid the little girl in a mountain cave, with 22 warriors to watch over her and stop her from leaving.

She was also forbidden from looking at her image reflected in water.

But one day, her guards were mysteriously put to sleep and the beautiful young girl left the cave and walked to a lagoon, where she looked into the water and saw her reflection for the first time.

Captivated by her own image, she was unable to move, but her presence awakened the Master of the Waters, the Great Anaconda, who emerged from the depths, fell in love with the girl, and drew closer to take her away.

When she resisted its advances the anaconda swallowed the girl, but immediately he began to swell up, forcing the water out of the lagoon, flooding the village and drowning the tribe.

Finally, the anaconda burst and Maria Lionza was set free, becoming the owner of the lagoon, the river and the waters, the protecter of the fish and later of all the plants and animals.

Translated from various sources by Russell Maddicks

Piaroa Myth 1: Buoka and Wajari, the first men

There are about 15,000 Wotuja - better known as Piaroa - living in the Orinoco-Ventuari region of Venezuela's Amazonas and Bolivar states. Their most sacred monument is the dramatic, tabletop mountain known in Spanish as Cerro Autana, a popular destination for adventure tourists. While the majority of Piaroa now wear western clothing and are increasingly part of the cash economy they still hold on to traditional beliefs, including this important myth about the origin of the world and the creation of the first people by the brothers Buoka and Wajari. This myth is taken from Luis Boglar's "Cuentos y Mitos de Los Piaroa" (Montalban, 1977) and appears in "Mitos de Creacion de la Cuenca del Orinoco" (FUNDEF, 1993).

Everything was dark. There was no sun. There was no water. There was no sky. There were no mountains. There were no people. Wajari, the creator of all the elements, the animals and the people had not yet been born.

Suddenly, Buoka appeared next to a beautiful tree that he named Kareru. This tree produced the juice of knowledge.

Enemey Ofoda, a spirit, told Buoka to drink the juice from this tree. Buoka drank it and had visions of what he could do.

Kareru is the first tree. It is the grandfather tree and the father tree. The father of the white-lipped peccaries was born from this tree, as were the fathers of the collared peccaries and the armadillos.

Buoka drank the juice from the tree and he had visions. In these visions he travelled down underground to the sacred places of the white-lipped peccary spirits, the armadillo spirits, and the spirits of the other rainforest animals.

He saw all the animal spirits that live deep underground and he heard the voices of the white-lipped peccaries' musical instruments.

He had these visions after just one sip of the Kareru juice. He also saw images of the other musical instruments and he saw behind the waterfalls. His eyes crossed the sky in his vision and he saw the spirits of the mountains. He saw the birth of the great father of the waters, the Orinoco River, and its exit into the sea. He also saw the mountain of Paria, the Sipapo River and the Upper Cuao. He also saw the sacred places of the mountain animals.

The Kareru tree reproduces the voices of the father of the white-lipped peccaries and the fathers of the collared peccaries and the armadillos. Inside, it also has the voice of the grandfather and the cry of the mountain bear.

The second time that Buoka drank the juice of the Kareru tree, he saw his brother in a vision and he thought he would make it real so his brother would become the great chief of the world.

So Buoka pulled the vision from his right eye. From his right eye Wajari was born. Buoka thought that Wajari's eyes should be clear, like the eyes of a tapir, but Wajari came into the world blind. Nevertheless, Wajari was wise and before being born he had seen and visited many parts of the Earth.

He spoke to Buoka, his creator, like this: "Brother, how can you live without water, earth and sun?"

Then Wajari created water for the whole world. Afterwards, he said to his brother: "With the visions that the Kareru juice gives you and with my thoughts, let's start working to create the natural elements and everything the Piaroa need to live."

So between the two of them they made the sun and the stars, the soil and the waterfalls. Buoka also had visions about the organization of the family, about wives, sons, and grandchildren.

The two brothers said that everything they were creating was necessary for the other indigenous peoples that appeared in Buoka's visions, such as the Baniwa, the Waika and the Yabarana.

Then Wajari created the sun on the earth. He cleaned it, he blew on it and he lifted it up to the sky. But at first the sun's light could not be seen.

Wajari thought the sun must have lost its way. He decided to travel to the sacred sites in the mountains to see if he could find it.

Finally, he found it. He took it in his hands and made such a giant leap that he managed to reach the sky and made the sun burn fiercely.

When Wajari jumped with the sun in his hands there was a clap of thunder. It was the voice of the white-lipped peccary.

Wajari lifted the sun even higher and its rays reached every part of the world and all could see it.

Buoka, who had created the moon, wanted to do the same as his brother. He took the moon in his hands and jumped but he couldn't jump as high as Wajari and he struck the sky and the moon bashed him in the face. So he placed it under the sky and did not make it burn as Wajari had done with the sun.

When Buoka returned to the earth he said that his thoughts were no longer so powerful and he said he did not have any masks for the collared peccaries. And that he would also need the power to stop the Piaroa suffering from illnesses.

Meanwhile, Wajari asked Ku-upa, the lightning - his celestial companion when he rose into the sky - for help in creating people.

Ku-upa agreed to help and Wajari sat in the sky on a bolt of lightning as he fashioned the first people.

While the lightning flashed and its voice, the thunder, rumbled through the heavens, Wajari created all the different parts of the first people, their skin, bones and eyes.

And depending on the part he was creating the thunder was soft or booming.




Translated by Russell Maddicks

Kariña Myth 1: The Twins and the Origin of Yuca

The Kariña, or True Caribs as they are sometimes called, were once spread throughout the Orinoco and the Caribbean and are still found in Surinam and French Guiana. The main concentration in Venezuela is now in the Mesa de Guanipa in Anzoategui State, but there are smaller communities in Monagas, Sucre and Bolivar states.

Many Kariña live and work in the cities of Ciudad Bolivar and Caracas but return home for tribal traditions such as the Akaatompo dances, which are celebrated every year from 1-3 November. The Akaatompo is like the Mexican Day of the Dead, a time when dead ancestors (añaatos) come to visit the living and speak to family members via mediums. It is also a time for communal dances, such as the Maremare.

This myth recounts the birth of the hero twins, the death of their mother and the origin of yuca and other plant foods. It is taken from Father Cesareo de Armellada´s book: "Literaturas Indigenas de Venezuela" (Monte Avila Editores, 1991).

Translated by Russell Maddicks

Long ago the Sun slept with the Moon and she became pregnant.
So the Sun invited her to give birth in his house.

"How do I get to your house?" the Moon asked him.

He said:
"At the first crossroads along the path that leads to the mountains you must take the path where you find a macaw feather. Further on you will find a feather from the Yuis bird and my house is close by. But you must be very careful. If you take the wrong path you will arrive at the house of Tarunmio, the old cannibal-woman!"

When the day came, the Moon set out to give birth in the Sun's house. More concerned than the mother were the children inside her belly. They bothered her ceaselessly. During the trek they kept saying:
"Look at those pretty flowers mother."
"Look at those ripe fruits."

On one of these occasions the Moon fell over and annoyed by the cheek of her babies she banged her belly to punish them.

They weren't born yet and they were already a nuisance.

When she arrived at the crossroads the Moon could not remember the sign that had been agreed. Frightened, she asked her babies, but they were angry and did not answer.

As might be expected she took the wrong road and ended up at the house of the old cannibal woman Tarunmio, who was cooking when she arrived.

The Moon was tired and hungry and asked if she could stay the night. Tarunmio didn't need to be asked twice. She offered her food, water and a room and then helped her to lie down.

In the middle of the night Tarunmio killed the Moon. She took out the twin babies and then she ate her.

From that night on the only mother the boys knew was the old woman.

In a few days they grew and became strong, because the blood of the gods ran through their veins.

The boys became great hunters. Every day they brought home from the jungle guan birds, agoutis and opossums that the old woman cooked in the night, giving the boys nothing.

The cannibal woman only gave them a white bread that tasted like cassava (flat manioc-flour cakes).

The boys, tired of the same food, asked themselves where the old woman got the cassava from if she didn't grow yuca (manioc). So they decided to watch how she did it.

From an enormous toad the old woman extracted a heavy milk that she threw on the hot flat circular cooking plate (budare) and from which she made the sipiipa (cassava cakes).

Afterwards, she spoke to the toad:

"The day will come when I shall stop getting milk from you for these two. Sometime soon I shall eat them."

Realizing that the old woman was not their mother, but a Tarunmio, the twins decided to kill her.

Also, after returning from hunting guans one day they heard two of the birds who were still alive speaking:

"Those two who hunted us are the sons of the moon...," said one of the birds, before recounting the whole story of what had happened to their mother.

The next afternoon, the twins told the old woman that they were going to burn the ground to prepare it for planting, but to obtain a good harvest they needed her to shout out her chants on top of a platform of sticks they would build.

After two days the ground was cleared and on on the third day the platform of sticks was ready.

When the old woman started to sing the twins set fire to the wood underneath her. The old woman had no time to escape because the flames burnt her up like a dry twig...

That was the origin of the indigenous people's first attempt at sowing, and from where all the fruits and root vegetables first came: ocumo, mapuey, ñame and many others.

Wayuu Myth 4: The Origin of Fire

This myth about the origin of fire is taken from Jose Enrique Finol's book "Mito y Cultura Guajira" (Universidad de Zulia, 1984). It not only relates how the brave and resourceful Junuunay stole fire from the cave of the creator god Maleiwa, but also the origin of the firefly, the scarab beetle and the sikiyu bird. It also signals the best kinds of wood to rub together to make a fire. So if you're ever stuck without a fire in the cold desert night of the Guajira Peninsula, seek out the caujaro tree and get rubbing.

In the beginning people did not have fire. They were imperfect creatures who ate things raw: meat, vegetables, roots and wild fruit. No vegetables were cooked in the fire. They ate no prepared foods. Meat was not smoked, or roasted, it was dried. They hung it in the sun and ate it dry.

Those first people, because of their imperfection, shared their sad fate with the animals. Some lived in tree trunks, some in caves, some in holes; others had huts to shelter in; but they lived without fire to warm them or give them light to stave off the fear that comes in the dead of night.

Maleiwa (the Wayuu creator god) was the only one who possessed fire. He had some burning stones that he jealously guarded in a grotto far from the reach of people. Maleiwa didn't want to give fire to people because they lacked judgement. Instead of making good use of it they could use it in bad ways to set fire to the undergrowth, burn living creatures and hasten calamities. That's why he kept it from them.

But one day, when Maleiwa was standing next to the fire (Octorojoshi) warming his body, a young man named Junuunay came towards him, stiff with cold.

Maleiwa on seeing him was greatly angered.

- What have you come for, trespasser? Don't you know that all access to this place is prohibited? Perhaps you have come to disturb my peace and try my patience?

Junuunay replied, pleadingly:

- No venerable grandfather. I have only come to stand next to you and warm my body. Have mercy on me. I did not mean to offend you. Shelter me from this cold that freezes me, that pricks my skin and works into my bones. As soon as I am warm I will leave.

Junuunay hid his intentions as he said this. The bold young man employed a host of cunning tricks to convince Maleiwa. He made his teeth chatter, he made his pores prick up as if he had goose pimples, he shivered like a machorro lizard and he rubbed his hands together until, finally, Maleiwa felt pity for him and agreed.

But the Great Father didn't take his eyes off him, because he had his doubts about the honesty of this stranger, who inspired admiration rather than disdain.

Both of them began to rub their hands together and warm up their bodies. The flames of that fire were intensely beautiful, giving off a glow that could be seen from afar like the golden glow of the stars, like the skemeche aitu'u, like the burning embers of heaven.

Junuunay's courage grew and tried to speak to Maleiwa in order to distract him, but Maleiwa stayed quiet and took no notice of the stranger's words.

However, a sudden gust of wind made Maleiwa turn his head round and look back to discover the source of the small noise. It sounded as if tiny, cautious steps were passing through the dead leaves.

Junuunay took advantage of this momentary slip by Maleiwa, grabbed two burning embers from the fire and quickly snuck them into a small bag he carried concealed under his arm.

With that he fled, sneaking out into the undergrowth that surrounded the grotto.

The Great Maleiwa, realizing that a robbery had taken place and he had been made a fool of, set off after Junuunay to punish him.

Maleiwa said:

- He tricked me, that rascal. I'm going to punish him, I'll torture him with a life of filth. I'll make him live in a pigsty, in a dungheap, pushing around balls of dung...

And saying that he ran after the thief.

Junuunay made a desparate dash to get away but his steps were so slow and short that he could barely make any headway.

Caught in this difficult predicament he again employed his slippery ability to save himself.

He called on a young hunter called Kenaa to help him, and quickly passed him one of the burning coals to hide.

Kenaa took the precious burning jewel and ran away without being seen. In the sun he was hidden from Maleiwa's view, but he was always discovered at night, when he had to try and hide the light of the burning ember among the trees and bushes.

To punish him, Maleiwa turned him into the firefly, who in the dark winter nights emits a flickering light as he flies by.

Junuunay in desperation found Jimut, the grasshopper and said to him:

- My friend, Maleiwa is chasing me because I have stolen fire from him to give it to the people. Take this last burning ember, flee with it and hide it in a safe place, because whoever possesses this jewel will be the most fortunate person of all, wise and great.

Saying this, Jimut took the burning coal and quickly hid it inside a branch from the Cuajaro tree, then he moved it into an olive tree, and then to a branch from another tree; and so it was spread and multiplied everywhere.

People discovered it later through a child called Serumaa. This child, as he played its games and jumped around the scrub, showed people the wood in which Jimut had deposited fire.

That child could not speak, he only knew how to say: Skii... Skii... Skiii... Fire... Fire... Fire...

People then rushed to find the fire but they couldn't find it and didn't know how to get it. They checked all the trees, the branches and the trunks but could find nothing.

Then they saw Jimut drilling a hole in a branch, and following his example, they drilled and rubbed with their hands two sticks from the Caujaro tree and at the tip a flame appeared, lighting up the heart of the countryside and filling the people's spirits with happiness.

Since that time they have made use of fire. Now people are no longer afraid and no longer have to suffer the harshness of the cold night.

Maleiwa turned the young boy Serumaa into the little bird that jumps from branch to branch crying Ski... Ski... Ski, it's song.

Since then, Serumaa has been called Sikiyuu.

This happened after Maleiwa turned Junuunay into a scarab beetle and condemned him to live in filth for stealing fire.

Since then the scarab beetle has lived off and fed from excrement. And in punishment for his audacity marked on his body are the marks of his theft, that is, the bright marks that the scarabs carry on their legs.

Translated by Russell Maddicks

Wayuu Myth 1: The Way of the Dead Indians

Wayuu Myth 2: Pulowi and the Jewels

Wayuu Myth 3: Kasipoluin the Rainbow

Video of the Wayuu People and Their Native Land

Wayuu Myth 3: Kasipoluin the Rainbow

Another myth taken from Michel Perrin's book "El Camino de Los Indios Muertos" explains the origin of Kasipoluin, the rainbow, and the connection between Kasipoluin and Juya, the rain.


Without Kasipoluin, the rainbow, it would rain without cease,
but the rainbow came to tell Juya, the rain, to stop.
He comes to disperse the rains.
The rainbow comes out at the same time as Juya,
to tell him to stop:
"Don't rain any more, Juya," he tells him.

They say that the Rainbow is the tongue of a snake,
that lives in the Earth, like a root.
What comes out of its mouth, appearing like a smoke, is three-pronged:
green or blue, yellow and red.
But the snake itself is unique,
having the same colours as the rainbow.


I know a child, who was running and
arrived at the place where a rainbow was coming out.
He saw a coiled up snake.
Frightened, he ran away immediately.
He did not try and get closer.
But he clearly saw a rainbow emerge from the snake.

The Guajiros say that,
snakes are the enemies of Juya.
And Juya is the enemy of snakes.
He strikes them with his lighting bolts when he sees them.
It is his fault that the largest ones are dead.

Some people say that the rainbow always comes from the boa, Sarulu.
Others say that it can come from any snake,
or an iguana or the caiman, Maliwa.

Translated by Russell Maddicks

Wayuu Myth 1: The Way of the Dead Indians

Wayuu Myth 2: Pulowi and the Jewels

Wayuu Myth 4: The Origin of Fire

Video of the Wayuu People and Their Native Land

Wayuu Myth 2: Pulowi and the Jewels

Wayuu Myth 2: Pulowi of the Land and Pulowi of the Sea

This myth taken from Michel Perrin's book "El Camino de Los Indios Muertos" tells the tale of two of Juya's wives, Pulowi of the Land and Pulowi of the Sea, who are fierce nature goddesses. Juya, a hunter who controls the rain, was married to Pulowi but later left her for Mma, who gave birth to plants. That is why the spurned Pulowi is so dangerous to people today and can turn those who look upon her to stone, or seduce them in the form of a beautiful woman and then devour them. The jewels that the troupial is sent to steal are tu'uma, made from red jasper or coral. Tu'uma are considered so precious by the Wayuu that they can form part of the "bride price", which is paid by the groom's parents to the bride's parents. Some tu'uma necklaces are considered equal in value to several dozen cattle. Alijuna are outsiders, non-Indians.

The Pulowi from the bottom of the sea
And the Pulowi that lives on land
are the wives of Juya.

The Pulowi from the bottom of the sea is richer.
Her "cattle",
are the turtles, the fish
and all the other food in the sea.
She owns a great deal of tu'uma
and jewels of every kind.

The Pulowi of the Land is poor.
Her "cattle",
are just the deer, the roe deer, the foxes,
and some other animals.

One day, she decided to steal a bag of tu'uma
from Pulowi of the Sea.

"Why don't you send me,"
said the Si'a bird, the troupial.
"Do you have supernatural powers
to try and bring me the jewels?"


"Yes, I am pulashi (magically powerful),"
replied the small Si'a bird to Pulowi of the Land.
"Well go then!"
"And return with the best jewels!"
"I will say you are pulashi
only when you have brought from Pulowi of the Sea,
the best bag of jewels."

The Si'a bird travelled very far,
to the seashore.
Then he went to the home of Pulowi of the Sea,
a very big house,
where her children also lived,
her daughters, the daughters of Juya.

"Hey Guajiro!"
"I've never see you before! Where are you from?"
"What are you after,
Indian who comes from far away from here?"
Pulowi asked him.
"I like to explore the world,
and I want to meet you."

"So you came to stay here?"
"Hang a hammock for this Guajiro!"
Pulowi said to her daughters, the daughters of Juya.

Pulowi of the Sea was very rich.
Her house was very big, very tall.
She had a great number of cattle,
turtles, fish and all sorts of sea birds.

Si'a stayed with her.
A hammock was put up for him
in which he could sleep.

The third day, at dawn,
while everybody was asleep
he flew up above the bags of jewels,
which were suspended very high, under the roof of the house.
He examined them.


One of them was small
but it contained the best jewels.
"This is the one I shall take,"
he said to himself.

When he came down,
he took the form of a Guajiro again
and stretched out in his hammock.

The next night,
he was the only one who did not go to bed late.
Finally, everybody went to sleep.
The old ones were sleeping and snoring.
Pulowi was sleeping.

Si'a was watching the susu
- the woven bags that contained the jewels -
"Where is the fastening for this one?"
"Is it tied to the other one?"
he asked himself.
He went to undo the small bag,
the bag that was secured at both corners.
He put it on his back,
and fled.

He went to deliver it to Pulowi of the Land,
who is also Juya's wife.

When Pulowi of the Sea woke up,
she looked up at her bag of jewels.
The bags weren't there any more!
They had been brought down to the ground.
The smallest, the most precious, had disappeared...

Pulowi could not see the Guajiro any more.
She went to check his hammock.
It was empty.
"Oh, help me," she cried.
"That man has left with my small woven bag!"

Pulowi's children woke up.
"Weren't you with him?"
she asked them.
"Yes, but he seemed asleep."
"I didn't notice anything..."
"What are we going to do?" said Pulowi.
"The bag is very far now,"
said the daughters.

Pulowi jumped into the sea after the Guajiro.
"Ou! Ouuuuuuuuuu! Ou! Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu...!"
She always does that when she is robbed.
Pulowi was foaming at the mouth, following him.
But he was far away already.
The sea could not reach him now.

Si'a was now close to Pulowi of the Land.
"So have you brought them?" she asked when he arrived.
"Take this bag!"
"You'll find the best she had!"
replied the Si'a bird.
"Let me see!" said Pulowi.

From the bag of jewels she took out the tu'uma
and many necklaces, kakuuna and korolo...
She passed each one to her bag.

Pulowi gave the bag that had served as a wrapping
back to the Si'a bird.
"Take it!"
"Make yourself a hammock from this bag from a far away land,"
she told him.
From that time,
the Si'a bird has had a very good hammock of woven straw.

Do you know the nest of this bird Alijuna?
Have you seen the house of the Si'a bird?
When it's hanging down it looks like a woven bag
whose bottom has come untied.
We call it a chirana.
It was given to the bird by Pulowi.

Translated by Russell Maddicks

Wayuu Myth 1: The Way of the Dead Indians

Wayuu Myth 3: Kasipoluin the Rainbow

Wayuu Myth 4: The Origin of Fire

Video of the Wayuu People and Their native Land

Wayuu: The Way of The Dead Indians

Wayuu Myth 1: The Soul and Death

The Arawak-speaking Wayuu who live around Maracaibo in Venezuela and both sides of the border with Colombia in the Guajira Peninsula are also known as Guajiros. They are the largest indigenous group in Venezuela and have preserved a rich tradition of myth and legend as well as their own shamanic traditions and burial practices. This myth about the nature of the soul and the cause of death was collected by Michel Perrin in 1969 and is taken from his 1976 book: "El Camino de Los Indios Muertos". I have kept the sentence structure of the original.

Each one of us is joined to a soul.
It is like a small piece of white cotton, like a puff of smoke.
But nobody can see it.

Our soul follows us everywhere we go,
like our shadow.
- Some say that our shadow is the form of the soul,
and call the soul the shadow -.
Our soul does not leave us except during sleep,
or when we are sick,
or when we have been hit by the arrows of Wanulu (god of illness and death).

Everything that happens in our dreams
is what happens to our soul.
If a Guajiro dreams that they are outside
close to a well, in a house...,
or if they see birds,
that means that their soul has left their heart,
coming out through their mouth,
to fly there.
But their heart continues to beat.

Nevertheless, it is our soul that makes us die.
A man who dreams that he dies never wakes up again.
His soul has left him forever.
Someone who dreams that a knife has been plunged into his chest,
is still alive.
But his soul is now badly injured.
The sickness is there.
Death is close.

When a Guajiro gets sick,
their soul is like a prisoner,
in the place of dreams.
That is where the shaman's spirit
can find it and bring it back to the sick one.
But if he cannot find it,
if it is hidden away,
if it is somewhere inside,
the Guajiro dies.
His soul has passed along the path,
the path of the dead Indians:
the Milky Way.

It travels towards the sea,
to enter the house where the sisters,
the mothers, the maternal uncles, the brothers are...

And the last words are said by the dying man:
- I am going now, I am going,
going to die.
I am going and will never return...
But his soul has already gone and will never return.
It will have taken its saddle.
It will have taken its belongings, its hammocks...
It will have gone to its land,
to Jepira, the land of the Yoluja (the spirits of dead Wayuu)...
When they die, Guajiros become Yoluja.
They go to Jepira via the Milky Way,
the way of the dead Indians,
there they find their houses.

The souls of the dead return to the earth
in our dreams.
Our souls meet them
when we dream about the dead.
Here, sometimes, you can see their ghosts.
They are the Yoluja,
the ghosts of the dead come back to earth.

On our death, however, we do not lose our soul.
Only our bones do we lose.
Our bones and our skin.
Our soul goes, that's all.
What goes is our shadow,
like our silhouette, blurry, imprecise...

But we die twice.
Once here,
and again in Jepira...

Translated by Russell Maddicks

Wayuu Myth 2: Pulowi and the Jewels

Wayuu Myth 3: Kasipoluin the Rainbow

Wayuu Myth 4: The Origin of Fire

Video of the Wayuu People and Their native Land