por The Uruguayan legends show great diversity and a rich history. From extinct aborigines to natural and supernatural phenomena, many are as profoundly important as current in their culture.
Legends are narratives that keep ancient culture alive in every country or region. They manage to mix, with different nuances, imaginative elements with real events that entire towns experienced, which are constantly updated through the story.
The main legends of Uruguay
1. Yerba mate
One of the oldest Uruguayan legends tells of the origin of mate as an ancestral drink. The goddesses of the moon and clouds came down to earth one day only to find a jaguar that was about to attack them.
In their defense, an old indigenous man managed to save them from the fierce attack. As a reward, the goddesses gave him a drink made from a plant, the mate tea leaves, with which he could prepare a «friendship drink», which is the mate we know today.
2. The passage of the cross
It is the story of a kind but sinful man when young, who used to frequent the Yi River. The man possessed an old talisman that an Indian witch had given him, which made his dark past erased and he became a man of reference and respect for his people.
Being envied and believing that he was hiding wealth, a group of men murdered him, and left his body out in the open. Not being buried, his soul wandered in the form of bluish light and terrified gauchos who passed through the area.
Because of the fear in the inhabitants of the region, everyone began to nail crosses in his name.
After a while, a tree was born so big that it took the shape of a cross and became a reference point for passage, in an area that was now holy and not feared.
3. The charrúas: the tribe of honor
It tells the story of a tribe present more than 4,000 years ago in Uruguayan lands.
The Charrúas were expelled from Guarani lands towards Uruguay and were a nomadic and hunting tribe, whose name referred to the brave honor.
The arrival of the Europeans to the Uruguayan coasts was blocked by attacks from these tribes, who fought against the Spanish, Portuguese and British. They were victims of a brutal genocide by the Uruguayan government in 1833.
4. The churrinche
In a fierce combat between indigenous tribes, many members of one of the fighting tribes managed to take refuge in the waters of a nearby river. The chief of that tribe was unable to reach it due to his wounds and fell to the ground.
Not wanting to be hit by enemies, he took his heart out of his chest and transformed it into a fiery red bird.
In the form of a bird, his heart flew to take refuge in the native forests, singing a melody more similar to a chirp, hence its current name.
5. Bad light
History of the gaucho era, it is a fluorescent light that rises from the ground at night. Those who spot the light at night and search beneath it will find indigenous artifacts and valuable metal objects.
This discovery brings serious consequences, when a lethal gas flows under the light that seeks to kill all misers who get the precious treasures. Light is said to emanate from lost souls who were not Christianly baptized.
6. The street
The aruera is a poisonous tree, whose origin was a beautiful indigenous woman who was very enamored, who was always deceived by her suitors. Tired of being deceived, her loving feeling turned to bitterness. When she died she returned in the form of this tree, which is extremely poisonous when a branch is cut off and even when resting under it. It is said that it is her bitterness for so many deceptions.
7. Camba nambi
Legend has it that a cacique adored his daughter Tacuareé. This one day she fell in love with a man from a distant tribe and went after him. Her father went looking for her, and desperate not to find her, he often put her ear to the ground, to hear from her. Until one day, exhausted, he died in that position. When they found it, they couldn’t lift it because her ear had taken root, they had to cut it off to collect her body. The cambá nambi tree originated there, which is shaped like an ear.
References
Martin, P. and Read, M. (1962). Pachamama Tales: Folklore from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. Libraries Unlimited.
Bridges, S. (2010). The river of birds Retrieved from pendientademigracion.ucm.es.