Colombian Folklore Essay

El chupacabra is a legendary creature that has been running around Mexico, and various parts of Centralcentral America after its initial sitting in March 1995 in Puerto Rico when a farmer found his 150 livestock animals were dead bloodsuck. But the chupacabra also dates back in Mayan culture stories reveal a creature with a bat or lizard like face two arms and has the ability to turn into a statue. It even had a sharp snout that lends itself as a service that could suck blood from animals. And findings have been found identify terms like “goat sucker” in Mayan literature

While the Chupacabra is fairly new to us, it does date back to the 1970’s. In the 1970’s legend says in the city of Moca, Puerto Rico there was a so called vampire (Sheppard Software). They were also referred to as “livestock- Predators”. Whether you believe it or not the Chupacabra reports of clean bloodless attacks remain. How? Where? There was

The Chupacabra will always be a local legend among the people of South America. People will always hold onto their love of a

During the discussion, several new pieces of information were presented. In this presentation we learned much about Colombian culture in the 1950s. Looking at Latin America at the time we see that violence was at a high with the fact that organized gangs were being established. Because of this we can see how the society in the book so easily accepted the slaughter of Santiago. Also in Colombia we see that they have a strong religions background in the Catholic church. In all religions we see routines, which is why it is also easy for the people of the novel to follow the routines and orders brought on from higher officials.

The monsters in Popol Vuh, known as the lords of the underworld, are extremely important to Mayan Culture.

She even has a cult following in Venezuela, including a statue of her in the capital of Caracas. The cult is similar in most aspects to “Santeria”. Once a year, thousands of Venezuelans go to El Sorte Mountain where it is said that Maria Lionza’s spirit resides. It is a deeply religious movement that combines spirit possession, black magic, rites and Catholic rituals. They have used the image and spirit of Maria Lionza as the main figure of their religion or cult, estimates suggest that around 20% of the Venezuelan population belong to the cult. On the other hand, the rest of the population is completely against the cult, they say that the image of Maria Lionza is being used for black magic and spirit possession which goes against the myth, she was the Goddess of nature, love, peace, and

The Colombian culture is formed from the inheritance of the indigenous peoples present in the territory since ancient times, the Spanish traditions adopted during the colonial period and the African Customs incorporated by the slaves that led the conquistadors. This mixture of cultures constitutes a society with traits common to the rest of Latin American countries but, at the same time, very different also. Indeed, even within Colombia's own territory there are many differences between regions and others. Geographic diversity-can be found from tropical beaches to mountains of more than 5,000 meters in height with perpetual snows-and the natural isolation of some areas has led to this diversity. Some of the most important cultural groups according to their location are the so-called cops, located in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense; the countries, settled in Antioquia; The foresters, Settlers of the eastern plains; the Vallunos, settled in the area of Valle del Cauca; the coastal, inhabitants of the Caribbean coast, and the Santander, residents of the departments of Santander and Norte de Santander. All these groups are characterized by showing great cultural differences among themselves, which makes Colombia a fascinating country to know and enter into the day to day of its inhabitants.

One instance of racial mixing in Colombia comes from Geronimo Torres who suggested that they send the prostitutes and criminals who live

From January 20 to 23, I went to Santa Fe and San Ildefonso in New Mexico with Dr. Laughlin and my classmates. I was totally surprised by the architecture of the housing and the rich collection of Native American cultures. I expected to see traditional suburbs but instead I found almost everyone has built houses resembling traditional adobe homes which I had never seen. Houses, businesses, government buildings including museums are almost built in this style. The colors seem to blend in with the desert. One of the most exciting events I attended in New Mexico was the museum presentation of the Zuni tribe. Although we actually did not meet the Zuni tribe, we learned a lot about them because Dawn Kaufmann who is a guide at the Museum of

Chupacabra is Spanish for “goat sucker”. The creature’s name derives from stories in Latin America of several dead goats with puncture wounds in their necks and all the blood drained from their bodies.

Where did the folktale La Llorona initiate? The ascendance of the legend has its roots in Aztec mythology. One version holds that it is the Aztec goddess Chihuacoalt. They say that before the Spanish conquest a female figure dressed in white began appearing regularly on the waters of Lake Texcoco roaming the hills and terrorizing the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan as she lamented, “Oh, my children, where are my children?” The ancient goddess Chihuacoalt warned the fall of the Aztec empire at the hands of men from the East. It did with the arrival of the Spanish in the Americas once accomplished the conquest of Tenochtitlan it became the Aztec Empire. Perhaps this legend was later was adopted by the Spanish during the colonial period and was associated with La Malinche.

* The Spanish invaded in the mid 16th century and conquered the entire Inco empire in Peru, Ecuador and Northern Chile.

Culture is the aquired knowledge that people use to interpret, experience, and generate social behavior.

Violence in modern Colombia takes place in many forms. The three major categories are crime, guerrilla activities, and attacks committed by drug traffickers. Violence has become so widespread and common in Colombia that many people have now become numb to it. The Colombian economy has also benefited from the illicit drug trade; however violent it may be. During the 1970s, Colombia became well known, as one of the world’s most important drug processing, production, and distribution centers for marijuana and cocaine.

Furthermore, descriptions of the Mongoose afford it an inspirational, if not heroic, stature that works to praise and elevate blackness in society. As seen above, the Mongoose is described as “an amiable golden lion eyes and the absolute black of its pelt” (Diaz 149). Perhaps the most important feature for the Mongoose, as an opponent of the anti-blackness, is the “absolute black of its pelt”. Considering the Mongoose as their saviour, it is significant that the De Leons, who exhibit black features themselves, are saved by a character that is “absolute black”. Diaz is going against the usual trope of the white saviour, thereby allowing for blackness to be seen as desirable and admirable rather than something to be eradicated per the Trujillo regime. It is also important that the black De Leons are saved by a black hero because it places the task of resistance in the hands of black people themselves. It shows that white people are not needed by blacks and affords the heroic, saviour qualities to a figure that, like the victims, is also black. Calling the black Mongoose “very beautiful” also fights against constant repudiations of black features in the text, as seen when Beli’s “black complexion” at birth is taken “as an ill omen” (Dias 248).