While growing up as a child in Caye Caulker in the 1970's when Elvis was still alive, my educator mother would be off studying somewhere around the world on a scholarship and we would be in the care of my Grandfather's kind & sweet spinster sister Clotilde.
My grandaunt Clotilde Alamina would sometimes try to teach us dances, songs and dialect of the Mayan & Mestizo traditions, the way she lived her frugal but cultural life in her tiny little village.
One of the stories she told us often, especially when she had to care for us for months at a time, was the story was the Belizean folktale of the TATADUHENDE's of Caye Caulker. The Tataduhende is a menacing guardian spirit of the mangrove forest, who lives in the two lagoons located on either side of the Split at the South & North Point according to some locals.
In retrospect, I understand why they would tell us this folktale, as young frightened children, it kept us from wandering too far away from home in our daily explorations around the island & seas.
As we often sit in hammocks on the verandah and sip the endless Cashew Wine sitting in the big barrel downstairs, AquaBoy & I reminisce a lot about the old days growing up on Caye Caulker. We share a lot of the same experiences.
AquaBoy and his brother had heard that if you lie in the South lagoon's little rickety wooden bridge long enough at night, you too will encounter a Tataduhende. He and his brother decided they would hunt a Tataduhende, especially since they had recently heard from their Tia Tencha that one had taken her away and she was later found lieing semi-concious on a styrafoam floating in the middle of the lagoon.
AquaBoy says that they headed into the lagoon creeping through the mangroves & guided only by the bright moon light. He says he didn't like going with his brother because when he catches a fright, he will just break away and run as far and fast as he could leaving him there standing alone.
They had planned to capture the Tataduhende from behind so they had entered the mangrove swamp from the West side of the island. They made sure they took a bag of CocoPlums since they heard that was what they ate.
Rumors were rampant on the island then that if you were far off from center village and picking CocoPlums from the vast number of trees lineing the mangrove swamp near the airstrip, that you could smell and see the tiny little men who would peek out from the bushes and try to entice you to follow them into the mangrove swamp where you would eventually get lost. They would call you, and you would follow and as they are looking at you and calling you, they are walking backwards, further into the forest because their feet is facing the back.
AquaBoy says that he heard they were about the size of a two year old. That if you put a big Mexican sombrero over their heads, it would conceal them entirely.
"Why would they entice a child to go into the mangroves and get lost?" I asked.
"Oh, just for kicks and giggles. They are jealous because they only have four fingers & backward feet" he says.
My grandaunt Clotilde Alamina would sometimes try to teach us dances, songs and dialect of the Mayan & Mestizo traditions, the way she lived her frugal but cultural life in her tiny little village.
One of the stories she told us often, especially when she had to care for us for months at a time, was the story was the Belizean folktale of the TATADUHENDE's of Caye Caulker. The Tataduhende is a menacing guardian spirit of the mangrove forest, who lives in the two lagoons located on either side of the Split at the South & North Point according to some locals.
In retrospect, I understand why they would tell us this folktale, as young frightened children, it kept us from wandering too far away from home in our daily explorations around the island & seas.
As we often sit in hammocks on the verandah and sip the endless Cashew Wine sitting in the big barrel downstairs, AquaBoy & I reminisce a lot about the old days growing up on Caye Caulker. We share a lot of the same experiences.
AquaBoy and his brother had heard that if you lie in the South lagoon's little rickety wooden bridge long enough at night, you too will encounter a Tataduhende. He and his brother decided they would hunt a Tataduhende, especially since they had recently heard from their Tia Tencha that one had taken her away and she was later found lieing semi-concious on a styrafoam floating in the middle of the lagoon.
AquaBoy says that they headed into the lagoon creeping through the mangroves & guided only by the bright moon light. He says he didn't like going with his brother because when he catches a fright, he will just break away and run as far and fast as he could leaving him there standing alone.
They had planned to capture the Tataduhende from behind so they had entered the mangrove swamp from the West side of the island. They made sure they took a bag of CocoPlums since they heard that was what they ate.
Rumors were rampant on the island then that if you were far off from center village and picking CocoPlums from the vast number of trees lineing the mangrove swamp near the airstrip, that you could smell and see the tiny little men who would peek out from the bushes and try to entice you to follow them into the mangrove swamp where you would eventually get lost. They would call you, and you would follow and as they are looking at you and calling you, they are walking backwards, further into the forest because their feet is facing the back.
AquaBoy says that he heard they were about the size of a two year old. That if you put a big Mexican sombrero over their heads, it would conceal them entirely.
"Why would they entice a child to go into the mangroves and get lost?" I asked.
"Oh, just for kicks and giggles. They are jealous because they only have four fingers & backward feet" he says.
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