THE LEGEND OF YERBA MATE: ACTIVITIES AND DYNAMICS FOR CHILDREN - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

There are several legends about yerba mate, such as the one originally from the Guaraní people who say that their ancestors crossed the ocean to reach America and await the arrival of a god with blue eyes and light skin, known as Pa 'i Shume.

According to legend, Pa 'i Shume came to earth and brought with him valuable knowledge about agriculture and medicine. He taught them how to grow the mate tree, a plant that, he claimed, guarantees health and long life.

Image by laridra from Pixabay

However, there is a version told by the oldest natives of Paraguay in which the origin of mate is explained from the adventures of Yací and Araí, the moon goddess and the cloud goddess respectively.

Yerba mate is one of the most popular infusions in southern Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The custom of ingesting mate has existed since before colonization, being a fully ingrained habit in these nations. It is a drink as daily and social as coffee is in other societies.

Despite having been consumed since before colonization by the Guaraní and Guaycurú peoples, the Spanish played an important role in the spread of mate consumption. It should be noted that, curiously, the settlers at first considered it a dangerous act, being restricted and punished.

The Paraguayan legend of yerba mate:

According to this legend, the moon was the goddess Yací and a cloud the goddess Araí. One night, Yací and Araí decided to descend from the sky turned into beautiful women to take a walk on Earth.

They began to walk through lush trails into the forest to learn about its nature. They were fascinated by the beauty of the flora and fauna of the Paraguayan jungle.

Suddenly a jaguar appeared (called a jaguar in that country) and it threatened to attack them with roars and a withering look. He was getting closer to them.

At the moment in which they tried to flee, the jaguar managed to prevent it by means of a great jump that allowed him to face Yací and Araí, being about to jump on top of them. Just at the instant when the animal takes the last leap to finally attack them, an arrow appeared through the air and dug into the creature's side.

The owner of the arrow that saved them was an Indian who was walking around the place at that time and was able to shoot the arrow in due course.

Yerba mate as a token of appreciation

The beast was not killed, it was only wounded, so it immediately recovered and pounced with fury on the Indian who wounded it. However, this one was skilled and was able to fire another arrow that pierced the heart of the feline to kill it.

After that, the man saw how Yací and Araí ascended to heaven to become the moon and the cloud again. Surprised by what he saw, the man assumed it was a hallucination and that night he returned home to rest.

While he slept, the goddesses he had saved appeared in his dreams where they explained who they were, expressed gratitude for his act of bravery, and made a gift to him and his community.

They explained that when he woke up he would find next to him a plant whose leaves were to be used in an infusion that would have healthy properties. An infusion that "will comfort the tired and tone the weak" they assured him.

When he woke up he found the plant next to him, just as he was told in his dreams. He cultivated and harvested its leaves and prepared them into an infusion; It was the yerba mate that began to be consumed by his community since then.

Activities for children about the legend of yerba mate

In some educational programs for primary school, methods consisting of dynamic activities are implemented to introduce children to different literary works and enable them to learn and enjoy them.

Image by Михаил Мингазов from Pixabay

The yerba mate legend is widely used in these dynamics, since in this way children learn about their culture and traditions and are more motivated to explore other types of literature. In addition, it is possible to remove the fear that some children feel towards these types of stories.

Learning dynamics from reading

1- From the reading of the legend of yerba mate, the children will identify the characters, the beginning and the end of the story. Together they will discover what this legend is about and interpret it.

2- The children are asked to point to the unknown words in the legend and look them up in the dictionary.

3- An investigation is carried out among all about the town of origin of the legend, its location, its social order and, from then on, the relationship of the town with the story told in the legend will be established.

Visual learning dynamics

1- After knowing the legend, each child will dedicate himself to drawing the characters of the same as he imagines them.

2- The teacher will show a photograph that represents each character and the students will dedicate themselves to describing each of their features, colors, size, etc.

3- The students will choose the objects they want in the classroom. From there they will have to identify their function and characteristics and write them on a sheet of paper. Each student or group will exchange annotations among themselves and they will have to invent a legend using the objects that are described on the paper. Finally, each legend will be explained and commented on by everyone.

Representations

1- In the text, sounds, characters and settings are suggested. The children, together with their teacher, will identify these elements.

2- Activities will be assigned to each other to recreate the legend. Some will interpret background sounds (birds, river, the roar of the jaguar, its walking among the plants, the sound of the branches of the trees, etc.). It is also valid to let them create sounds, such as the sound of Yací and Araí coming down from the sky.

3- Others will interpret the characters and everyone will create the scenery only with the objects that are inside the classroom, that way the colors and shapes will be in the imagination of each one.

References

1. Dellacassa, V. (2007) Yerba mate. History, use and properties. Recovered from: researchgate.net
2. Perkins Hidalgo, G. (1963) Legends and superstitions of Iberá. Recovered from: magazines.inapl.gob.ar
3. Dellacasa, E. (2001) The mate. Recovered from: researchgate.net
4. Martinez, P. (1996) Tales and legends of Argentina and America. Recovered from: s3.amazonaws.com
5. Luz, S. (2012) The legend of yerba mate. Tradition Day Project. Recovered from: salaamarilla2009.blogspot.com
6. Work projects with legends of the original peoples of Argentina. Recovered from: leyendas.idoneos.com