The Legend of Jurupari[1] is an Amazonian founding mythical tale that is known from the transcription made from the version told at the end of the 19th century by the Brazilian indigenous Maximiano José Roberto and translated into Italian by Count Ermanno Stradelli.
The legend of Jurupari was common knowledge in the tribes of the Colombian-Brazilian Amazon, especially in the Vaupés River basin, having been transmitted orally.
To resolve what could be the end of the race, the women gathered at Lake Muypa, where the star-goddess Ceucy (the name given to the Pleiades) used to bathe.
When she reached the age of first love, Ceucy, still pure, was tempted to eat the mapati or pihycan fruit (presumably the piquia, a nut from the Amazon region).
The Tenuiana (inhabitants of the Tenui Mountains) proclaimed him their tuixaua, their chief, and called him Jurupari, which means "the one who covers the mouth", because men would keep the secrets of his cult.
In addition to Jurupari/Iurupari, the civilizing hero and Son of the Sun is also known as Izí ("the one who originated from the fruit"), Bocan ("Bad Heart" [for those who do not follow his law]) and Maasanqueró.
A version of the Yuruparí legend found in the Orinoquía and the Colombian Amazon areas has been discussed by Javier Ocampo López, who calls him the "civilizing god of Vaupés".
His ashes turned into the first pachuba palm (Wettinia drudei), from which sacred flutes with the voice of Yuruparí could be made.
Yuruparí in death had also engendered the wild yuca plant, from which chicha is made, and this beverage is taken to be the deity's blood.
[9] [10] In another well-known legend, Jurupari is actually the god of darkness and evil, who would visit the Indians in their dreams, frightening them with nightmares and omens of horrible dangers, but preventing his victims from screaming — which sometimes caused them to suffocate.
For Câmara Cascudo, this conception of a "nightmare" creature is an amalgam of European and African legends, invented by wet nurses to control the behavior of children.
After this event, the initiates are ready to marry and carry out all the activities of an adult man, such as hunting, fishing and participating in the decisions of the village.