Cabeça de Cuia


Cabeça de Cuia is a legendary creature in the folklore of the Northeast Region of Brazil, more specifically the state of Piauí, along the Paranaíba River basin.

Nomenclature

There is a lexical play on words in the name Cabeça de Cuia since, another word for "gourd", sounds very much like for "head".

General description

According to legend, the Paranaíba creature was originally a human being, a fisherman by profession Crispim returned one day frustrated, having caught no fish, and when a beef-bone soup is served that day, he was angered by the meagerness of the meal, and threw a large bone at his mother she laid a curse on her son that would turn him into a river monster with a gourd-head. The curse would only be lifted when he has devoured seven virgins all named Maria.
According to several authorities, the Cabeça de Cuia must devour one virgin Maria every seven years, and after consuming the last one, he reverts to his old ordinary masculine human form. Thus after a span of forty-nine years, he is supposed to have lifted his curse. But others say he has never accomplished this task, neither having killed any virgin Mary nor anyone. He is still claimed to be spotted by locals, to this day. He is said to wander aimlessly from the waters of Parnaíba to the Poti River and neighboring areas, especially during the flood season.
He presents a general threat to bathers or waders in the Parnaíba River, pursuing and attempting to drown them. The tall, thin creature with long hair hanging down his face will sometimes devour bathing children, so that the name of "Cabeça de cuia" by mothers who want to frighten her children to keep off the waters. But even grown men exercise caution in wading during the flooding season, when the creature becomes active in hunting victims. Or else he capsizes boats and kills canoeists.

Dating

The legend is closely tied with the circumstances of founding of the city of "New Poti Velho" and the relegation of the old town as the city's bairro. Maria do Socorro Rios Magalhães guesses that the legend must have emerged in the early 19th century, when Poti Velho first began to be discussed as the ideal site for the new state capital.
One early documented attestations is found in João Alfredo de Freitas's Superstições e lendas do Norte do Brasil, where the cabeça-de-cúia is described as "tall, thin, with long hair falling over his forehead, which he shakes when he swims".

Parallels

A version of the legend is known in the state of Maranhão as well.
Cabeça de Cuia is a "fluvial myth, originating in the legend of a bad son, cursed by his mother during a moment of anger, when she had good reason to do so", according to.
Also, the myth of the circulating in the state of São Paulo is seen as a parallel.
Other legendary creatures of Piauí are also mentioned alongside, such as the barba ruiva, which is "a myth of the shellfish variety, originating in an infanticide".

Literary and media adaptations

After being handed down by oral tradition, the legend has been adapted into innumerable versions, also including plays, poetry, and popular songs.
Many of these are collected in the comprehensive study by Josias Clarence Carneiro da Silva, entitled Encanto e terror das águas piauienses.
There is the song "Cabeça de Cuia, lenda piauiense" by choro singer João de Deus, another song "Cabeça-de-Cuia", with lyrics starting "Sete Marias / Precisa tragar.." attributed to piauiense poet Chico Bento.
The creature is alluded to by in his novel Argila da Memória.
A series of graphic novels based on the creature, by Eduardo Prazeres.

Commemorations

In the year 2003, the city of Teresina established Cabeça de Cuia Day, to be celebrated on the last Friday of April.
On 3 October 2023, the Legislative Assembly of Piauí approved the bill recognizing the legend of Cabeça de Cuia as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Piauí.