In times gone by, the indigenous nation that lived on the banks of Paranapanema¹ decided to leave the region, ergo, escaping from the atrocities practiced by the white invaders.

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One night, though, already on a journey, when the Indigenous awakened, they were completely surrounded and only by the force of their tacape², they were able to open up their way through the opponents; but on the run one of the most beautiful woman in the village - Jaíra - fell under the power of the head chief of the opposite flock, a strong and valiant man.

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The summoned indigenous nations gathered together and for an entire moon they prepared themselves for the war. They held the Curare³ preparation feast, also called Uirari⁴. 

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It was the oldest woman in the village who had the honor of preparing the poison; she would get dressed in red feathers, would listen to the Pajé’s⁵ chant and go to the forest, from where she would return laden with herbs. 

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When the curare was ready, the steam from the pot would rise; the old woman would inhale it and fall dead. So it was done.

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Once the curare cooled down, the dance around the pot began, and so all the warriors impregnated their arrows with the poisonous herb extraction.

 

 

Before the war take place, an old man came from far away to secretly advise the Pajés: “in the war against the white ones, who used firearms, they should only wait for death; they were too many and knew how to defend themselves; what they should do was the following:

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“One of ours will implant our love spell filters near the enemy’s camp in order for the chief to fall in love with Jaíra, and after that, he must introduce himself to the white ones as a deserter of the village, to work with them. Therefore, we will have the opportunity to talk to her and give her the prepared drugs. So one day, when everyone is asleep by the Ariru, served at the feast, the indigenous warriors, in droves, will suddenly attack the enemies, with their tacape in hands. None of the whites will escape, whose corpses will be thrown to the crows”. Such plan was accepted by the Pajés.

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On the following day the warrior left, taking the love filters, but in vain the indigenous waited — as it was agreed — for the song of the Saracuara⁶  bird three times in the new moon night.

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That’s because the chief had fallen in love with the beautiful bugra⁷, and Jaíra had also fallen in love with the chief, so the outgoing warrior came back having achieved anything.

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The Lieutenant Antonio de Sá — as the chief was called — was married, and resided in Santos⁸, and when his wife heard about the love between him and Jaíra, she made her father take her to the white one’s camp, where she arrived one afternoon, with many pajens and a splendid entourage.

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 There was a dispute between the spouses, and the next day, Jaíra, very disappointed, decided to leave, telling the Lieutenant that she was going to wait for him by the Itararé’s river bank⁹  in order to escape through the forest at night. And she added: 

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“When the moon goes down over the blue hills, I will sing three times like the Araponga branca¹⁰, and if you do not come, I will tie up my feet with a vine and throw myself into the river.”

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And so, she went away in tears, leaving the man. At night, for three times the song of the araponga branca was heard, but the chief did not look for Jaíra.

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Then, a terrible and sudden storm revolved that land, many steers were killed by several lightning striking, greatly reducing the Lieutenant’s Antônio de Sá animals.

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At dawn, the chief on horseback accompanied by a pajen¹¹, went to the spot indicated by Jaíra, but only found the unfortunate being’s clothing there, with a crown made of  passion fruit flowers on top.

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The lieutenant shouted out a cry of despair, he was so delusional that threw himself into the river and did not come back ashore.

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When the white lady heard about the incident, she went on horseback to the river, where she only saw Jaíra’s clothes and the place where her husband had succumbed. And in tears, hollering, she cursed the river in which she spat three times into.

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Then the waters dug the soil and hid in the bottom of the ground, the fishes went blind and the forest withered and died...

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People say that anyone who went down to the Itararé’s cave at night, would see Jaíra dressed in white, with a wreath of passion fruit flowers, having in her arms the body of the man who had died for her. Sometimes her shadowy silhouette could appear on the side of the road, killing the travelers to take their blood in the attempt to revive her beloved one.

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Even in more recent times, people say that the penance is over; and one day, when we least expected it, the waters of the river will once again open up their banks and spread out over the land, to reflect at night the glow of all the stars.

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¹Paranapanema River: The Paranapanema River with an extension of 577 miles is one of the most important water courses in the countryside of the state of São Paulo, in Brazil. It is a natural divisor of the territories between the states of São Paulo and Paraná.

 

²Tacape: An indigenous attack weapon; like a club, a clave.

 

³Curare: Powerful poison, extracted from several plants, including several species of the genus Strychnos. It presents itself as a thick, black resinous liquid that soon becomes a hard and brittle mass. Various alkaloids found in Curare, such as Curanine, make it a very strong poison..

 

​⁴Uirari:  The same as Curare. A vegetable poison in which the “caboclos” — indigenous — usually “herb” — poisoning — their arrows. Comes from the indigenous native language Tupi WI’RARI.

 

⁵Pajé: Pajé, in the indigenous people, is the one responsible for performing and conducting healing rituals, in a ritualization the pajé has the authority to invoke and control the spirits, having, with this, healing powers, healer. A shaman. Comes the indigenous native language Tupi PA’YE.

 

⁶Saracuara: is the given name in Tupi to  a specie of a bird from the fauna of Brazil originally from the swamps, with a very specific way of singing.

 

⁷Bugra: Pejorative name worn by europeans referring to brazilian Indigenous as people without culture. That are rude, wild and uneducated.

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⁸Santos: is a port city located on the coast of the state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil.

 

⁹Rio Itararé: is a watercourse that crosses the states of São Paulo and Paraná. "Itararé" is a Tupi term that means "excavated stone". It designates to underground rivers, which flows within the rocks, under the ground.

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Araponga branca: is a beautiful species of bird from the brazilian fauna that has an unique and very well known singing by the native brazilians/indigenous people.

 

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¹¹Pajen: is usually a young servant, used by princes or warriors to accompany them in military campaigns. Generally accompanying someone on horseback bearing their weapons.

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