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South America & Caribbean
Explore myths, traditions and legendary beings grouped under South America & Caribbean.
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Colo Colo
Colo Colo is a frightening being associated with the mythology and rural folklore of Chile, especially traditions connected with the Mapuche cultural area. Its description is not uniform: in some accounts it resembles a …
Cuchavira
Cuchavira is a figure associated with the rainbow in the religious traditions of the Muisca, also called the Muysca, an Indigenous people of the Andean highlands of present-day Colombia. She is commonly described as a fe…
El Dorado
El Dorado is one of the most famous legends associated with South America, but it was not originally the name of a golden city. The earliest form of the story concerned a “gilded man” or ruler connected with the Muisca p…
El-lal
El-lal, also written Elal or with other spelling variations, is a major mythic figure in the traditions of the Tehuelche peoples of Patagonia. He is especially associated with the Aónikenk, the southern Tehuelche-speakin…
Epunamun
Epunamun is a figure associated with Mapuche religious tradition in south-central South America, especially the cultural region known as Wallmapu, extending across parts of present-day Chile and Argentina. He is commonly…
Huallepen
Huallepen is a little-known aquatic being associated with the mythology and folklore of southern Chile, especially the island of Chiloé and the wider cultural world of the Mapuche and Huilliche peoples. The name appears …
Guecubu
Guecubu is a name found in older European accounts of Mapuche religious tradition for a malevolent supernatural power or spirit. The term is associated with misfortune, illness, death and other forms of harm. It is often…
Guinechen
Guinechen is a name used in some Spanish-language accounts for Ngünechen, a major divine figure in Mapuche religious tradition. The Mapuche, also known as the Mapuche people, are Indigenous inhabitants of south-central C…
Nguruvilu
Nguruvilu is a water being associated with Mapuche tradition and with the folklore of southern Chile, especially the island of Chiloé. Its name is commonly explained through Mapudungun elements meaning “fox” and “snake,”…
Huallallo
Huallallo, more fully known as Huallallo Carhuincho or, in some spellings, Wallallo Carhuincho, is a powerful sacred being in the mythology of the central Andes of Peru. He is best known from the Huarochirí Manuscript, a…
Huecuvus
Huecuvus is a name associated with a harmful supernatural being in Mapuche tradition of south-central Chile and western Argentina. It is also written in forms such as Huecuve, Huecuvé, or Huecuvü, depending on the langua…