Juan Tama from The Star

They say that he was not

the son of any woman, that

their chief was a son who was

born, let's say, from The Star...

today he is known as «Juan

Tama from the star». The story

says that The Star fell there, on the top of one mountain and the natives did

not realize it. Those who lived in those times did not notice and a time passed

when the land in the stream burst and took a lot of land; then that land was

slowly descending.

Those who lived at that time, our

ancestors, were curious. “Why that

stone world was going down the road

where it circulated the river?”—They

asked. After that, our ancestors

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gathered to look where the stone avalanche was running to. And then, they tell

us, when that avalanche of earth passed where they were looking at the

moment, they cut it close to a narrower part of the river to look at what was

coming down. Because they say

that there was a ... let's say a hut, a

basket, no, not a basket but

something with many branches as

interwoven, and there a child cried.

The ancestors tell us that a child was crying. And they were curious and more

people gathered. They got a lot of ropes together and tried to tie the basket.

Between all of them they managed to tie it to their ropes, creating a link, they

tied them to another wooden stick.

They held that kind of nest where you could hear that cry, then they

managed to hold it and the water passed free at last, following the cause of the

river. All the land, and that cradle

was left there, so they went to

uncover what was in the nest and

they say that there was only one

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worm more or less the length of a Mexican, a victory of that size.

[...] So they say that it only had his eyes and its mouth. The ancestors

were afraid of that living being, so they wanted to throw it into the water but

then they thought: "What will happen if we do not let it be with us and then

we want to throw it or dispatch it, what will happen?" They felt courage and

say that they took it, but the cry was similar to a child's cry; and then they

were curious because the cry was similar to that of a human child. So they

took it to one of the houses and, they say, that there was a mother who had not

had a baby for a long time. This woman began to nurse it, that animal began to

consume this lady's milk. The thing got strange because it is said that after

three days this lady died. But that monster, that animal began to change. The

head began to take shape where the eyes were. They were more curious to see

that the face or part of the skull looked like one of them, of oneself.

So they looked for another lady and quickly made her nurse this animal.

Let's say the reason lay in the fact that the ancestors believed that the women

had not sacrificed enough yet. Some of the ladies had their little babies, but it

didn't matter. When it was all over, there were seven ladies dead and the

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animal was already a normal boy: he already had feet, he had hands, he was a

human being, so they began to supply him with other food.

He grew up and they say that when he was already a man, he had a

notebook under his arm. Many years passed from that and in that notebook he

had written down what the other caciques had in command and the

possessions of the communities. So they say that Juan Tama defended five

towns that are Pitayó, Quichaya, Pueblo Nuevo, Caldono and Jambaló, now

they are constituted as indigenous reservations. And hence the reason that

explains the story which says that we all Paeces have emerged from the same

people. From there, out of so many peoples that he helped, that he protected,

the Páez (Nasa) nation is born, which no one has been able to destroy or

divide; and until now when the wind blows, we say Juan is living.