Tata Duende, The Old Man Who Protects the Forest

In last week’s installment of Kolcha Tuesday we brought you stories of La Llorona. In tonight’s installment, we will take a closer look at another Belizean folklore character, Tata Duende. Its origin is believed to be from the Yucatec Maya culture. But like La Llorona, Tata Duende’s story takes on different forms in different cultures. Some people believe he is this fearful creature that kidnaps children and steals their thumbs. Others are of the belief that Tata Duende is a spiritual entity that protects the forest and is meant to be respected. His story is one of both discipline and conservation. News Five’s Paul Lopez filed the following report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Stories of Tata Duende evoke a palpable sense of fear among listeners. In the Maya culture, however, this supernatural being, described by many as a gnome, is believed to be a spirit that protects the jungle. In Yucatec Maya, Tata Duende translates to Nukuch Tat. Andy Chuc is a cultural activist from northern Belize.

 

On the Phone: Andy Chuc, Cultural Activist

“The word tata in Maya means grandfather or father and duende comes from the contraction of the term dueno- de which in English means owner of, so dueno- de transforms to duende. Now in Yucatec Maya the tata Duende is not seen as a terror figure or a horror figure that would take children to the bush and take away their thumb. In Yucatec maya they are described as protectors.”

 

 

 

Kevin Mendez grew up in San Antonio Village in Orange Walk District. Growing up, he was told numerous stories of Tata Duende. He believes that it truly exists. One way to recognize Tata Duende’s presence is through a loud and eerie whistle that the entity makes. Mendez even has a painting of Tata Duende in his home as a reminder of his childhood experiences.

 

Kevin Mendez, San Antonio Resident

“If you were a child that is misbehaving you were told the Tata Duende would come for you. So it was to say you got to behave as a child and listen to your parents. Also, it comes from a sense of saying Tata Duende is a guardian of the forest and the animals. I do believe this to be true, like I told you I have heard the whistle and there was this particular time I was working at a rehab center in Orange Walk and in the space of the rehab center there was a stable. On the stable most of the nights we would hear the uproar of the horses and many times the caretaker would say come look at this. Many times, when you would see the mien of the horse there was this very like it had a nicely done braid. It really just sticks out, extraordinary, like which human would come in the middle of the night and do this to a horse.”

 

Tata Duende is believed to have a liking for horses and braiding their mane. Eleonor Carillo is a cultural activist and storyteller. She grew up in San Jose Nuevo Palmar, a short distance from where Mendez grew up. She recounted the story of a teenage boy who went into Orange Walk Town at night to meet a young lady without his parents’ consent. On his way back home, while walking through a farm, the horses and cattle became restless, causing him to run in the other direction.

 

 

Eleonor Carillo, Palmar Village Resident

“So when he looked around, he looked back the light that that showed in the background over the town he saw tata Duende, the sombrero, the features against the light of the town. And so, he just started running towards the village. The horses and the cattle started stampeding after him. He was running and running, and he didn’t know how fast he was running. But he was running the fastest he had ever run in his life. But he says he really saw this Tata Duende on top of the horse that was waving his arms, knocking the neck of the horse so that the horse could run faster, and he ran faster and faster and he did not stop until he reached the door of his house and he started knocking on it and calling his mom and his dad. We always fear what we don’t know just like we are afraid of death because we don’t know what happens after death. Well Tata Duende is an entity that has been here ever since.”

 

Andy Chuc explains that Tata Duende is primarily a spiritual entity. Most of the elders he has spoken with described Tata Duende as spirit to whom rituals are dedicated to gain protection in the forest. But over time, it has taken on human features and is described as a bearded, dwarfed, elderly man with missing thumbs, backward feet, and wearing a tall hat.  Aurelio Sho says he saw Tata Duende while working in Blue Creek Village in Toledo District. As he tells it, one evening, he ventured into a dormitory alone to operate the switch for a water pump.

 

 

Aurelio Sho, Blue Creek Village Resident

“A lot of people say that they don’t believe or it is not true. But you wont believe until you actually experience it or see this or have an encounter. I went all the way to the back, the building was like a hundred feet, so rooms this way and rooms that way, but just the last room I said let me pull the curtain this side and when I looked on the bunk bed this man was on top swinging his foot. So my goodness, you don’t see his face, you would never see his face like you see mine. He had his hat down like that but you could see his foot the hang, like if you the sit down on top of the top bunk and just swinging your feet. But, I am telling you dah like the spirit the hold me, like an invisible wall, and invisible energy holding me. I the run and you feel like you are doing it in slow motion. Until I popped out then I regained myself. That is Tata Duende.”

 

Lee McLoughlin, the creator of Belize’s first animated movie “Tecuani and the Duende”, has listened to dozens of Tata Duende stories throughout the years. Those stories are what inspired him to produce the animated movie.

 

 

 

 

Lee McLoughlin, Creator, Tecuani and the Duende

“I think that I had no right to disbelief what people were telling me. If that was their experience and they told me what they saw, I had no right to say that was not what they saw. I would feel very lucky to tell one of these stories although some of them did seem pretty scary, like you could see by the emotion in people voices that it is something that affected them on a deep emotional level. A friend of mine she saw Tata Duende in the next person yard on the back of a horse and when he turned around, she froze. This is like one of the most vivid memories of her childhood.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.