The Chullachaqui is the main figure of a legend representative of the culture of the Amazon tribes. Its name comes from the Quechua language which means "foot" (chaqui) and "odd" or "different" (chulla). This responds to the fact that, according to the legends, his left foot is arranged in the opposite direction to the right.
References to this spirit can be found throughout the dense Amazon jungle. Legends describe him as a goblin with an androgynous figure that has the ability to shapeshift and can even turn into a human. This is his method of attracting people who roam the forest, then capturing them and making them disappear.
The Chullachaqui has been represented through various artistic manifestations. Source: LLs
He is also known as a protective spirit of the Amazon, owner of animals and plants. It is also said to defend rubber trees from unconscious exploitation by humans.
There are stories that relate that the inhabitants of the indigenous communities of the Amazon often exchange gifts with the spirit of the Chullachaqui as a token of gratitude.
Another of the characteristic aspects of the Chullachaqui is that it does not have buttocks or anus, a particular feature of the jungle goblins. This makes it easily recognizable when it is not converted to another item.
Some indicate that their preferred victims are children roaming the jungle; It turns into some brightly colored bird to get their attention, then captures them and makes them disappear in the most remote places. In addition to its morphing power, it also has the ability to turn coral snakes into flutes, and vice versa.
Main features
The grandfather of the settlers
The legend highlights the kinship between the Chullachaqui and the inhabitants of the jungle, who refer to him as the grandfather.
This relationship has its explanation within the collective imagination, through popular belief that establishes a kinship connection between spirits or mystical beings and man from its origins.
Carer
The Chullachaqui is usually attributed the care of some cultivation plots or "chacras". The stories tell that he takes the animals that have been attacked by the hand of man to these places in order to heal them. This conception confirms the connotation given to him as the guardian of all the animals and plants of the jungle.
In history, special emphasis is also placed on human actions related to accumulating wealth through the exploitation of natural resources and the fauna of the jungle, without taking into account the negative impact that this entails for the species.
Legend
A shiringuero lived near the Nanay River who worked very hard every day. However, the rubber trees did not give him the milk he needed to survive. One day he came across a man with a prominent belly and one foot smaller than the other.
It was the Chullachaqui, considered the owner of animals and trees. He approached the rubber tapper and asked him: "How are you doing?" He replied: "Very bad, I have a lot of debts."
El Chullachaqui told him that if he wanted to have a better production of rubber trees, he could give him a virtue. Excited, the shiringuero asked him to please help him.
Before the affirmative answer, the Chullachaqui replied that he would help him but that he first needed him to do him a favor. The shiringuero had to give him one of his cigars; the agreement was that the Chullachaqui would smoke it and then go to sleep, and at that moment the shiringuero had to give him punches and kicks until he was awakened.
The man agreed. The other fell asleep and was immediately beaten. Once awake, the Chullachaqui thanked him and proposed a new challenge.
They had to start fighting; If the man managed to knock down the Chullachaqui three times, he promised to make the trees provide the necessary rubber so that the man could pay his debts. On the other hand, if the man was defeated, a disease would strike him as soon as he got home.
The man looked at Chullachaqui and thought he could beat him, especially considering that he had a rather tiny foot. They fought and the man was able to beat him three times, always stomping on the little foot; there he kept his strength.
Promise kept
The Chullachaqui kept his promise and told the man that from then on the trees would give him more rubber. However, he warned him not to be so greedy as to extract too much milk from the logs, because this would be bad for the trees and make them cry. Likewise, he threatened to kill him if he told this story to someone.
The shiringuero obtained the milk he needed from the trees and realized that the Chullachaqui was kind: he would settle in the shiringal and heal the animals, or he would braid the trees with the vines. Over time, the man paid off his debts to the owner of the shiringales and bought shoes for his children.
Powerful spy
However, it happened that the owner of the shiringales - an evil being who had mistreated many indigenous people - learned of the worker's fortune. He got up very early and spied on the shiringuero with the intention of finding out which trees were the most productive.
After collecting this information, he returned with large buckets instead of using the traditional tichelas, small containers that were used by the shiringueros. This man ended up making very deep cuts to the trees; at the end of the extraction the product was water instead of milk.
Time passed and the shiringuero drank only the amount of milk that Chullachaqui had recommended, while the other drank excessively.
One day, when the greedy man was waiting hidden among the trees, the Chullachaqui approached them both and indicated that virtue was ending.
He forgave Chullachaqui, but ordered him to leave and not return. Then he turned to the boss and accused him of having no compassion for the trees, which at the end of the extraction did not give milk but water.
That same afternoon, the owner of the shiringal became seriously ill, had headaches and a high fever. They had to move him in a canoe to a health post on the river and there was no doctor who could tell him what was the origin of his pain. No one was able to cure him and he eventually died.
In contrast, the lucky shiringuero - a man with the last name Flores, who is believed to be still alive - never returned to the shiringales and moved to the Peruvian district of Pebas, where he built a brick house.
References
- Galeano, Juan Carlos. "Amazonian stories" (2014). At Florida State University. Retrieved on August 1, 2019 at Florida State University: myweb.fsu.edu
- Olsen, come on. "World Flutelore: Folktales, Myths, and Other Stories of Magical Flute Power" (2013) In University of Ilinois Press. Retrieved on August 1, 2019 at University of Illinois Press: books.google.es
- Barcan, Sharon. "The Latin American Story Finder: A Guide to 470 Tales from Mexico, Central America and South America, Listing Subjects and Sources" (2015) McFarland, p. 165, 169 and 291.
- D'Argenio, Maria. “Decolonial encounters in Ciro Guerra's The Embrace of the Serpent: indigeneity, coevalness and intercultural dialogue” (2018). Postcolonial Studies, 1 - 23.
- Rune Shimi & Mishu Shimi. "Runakay kamukuna" (2009). At WaybackMachine. Retrieved August 1, 2009 at WaybackMachine: web.archive.org
- Adamson, Joni. “The Latin American Observatory: Chullachaki's Chakra and Environmental Education in the Amazon basin” (2018) In The University of Sidney. Retrieved on August 1, 2019 at The University of Sidney: sydney.edu.au
- Ajacopa, Teofilo. "Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha bilingual dictionary" (2007) Retrieved on August 1, 2019 at: futatraw.ourproject.org