Written by Carlos Mamanché - Comunidad Indígena Muysca De Sesquilé. Illustrations by Camilo Conde. Te reo Māori translations & narration by Hēmi Kelly. English translations by Mariana Suarez. English narration by Lizzie Dunn.
This story was brought to you by our amazing partners at Latin America CAPE. Find the full 'Legendary Links' project and other language combos for this story here.
Māori | English |
E kī nei ngā kōrero a ō mātou tūpuna, e hia kē nei ngā marama i huri i hiahia rā te atua wahine o Guatavita, he wahine mōhio, ki te tuku i ōna mātauranga nui ki te iwi Muysca. | Our grandparents tell us that many moons ago, the goddess Guatavita, a woman of great wisdom, wanted to share her deep knowledge with the Muysca people |
I tētehi pō atarau, e whiti nei te marama hua me ngā whetū, ka tae mai ia ki tēnei whenua, he emerara tōna hanga. Ka punanga ia i roto i ngā maunga. | One night, illuminated by the full moon and the stars, she came to these lands in the form of a great emerald and found refuge inside the mountains. |
Nāwai rā, nāwai rā ka whakatau ia ki te whakakite i a ia anō ki te atua o te rā, ko tōna hanga i puta mai ai ia, ko tētahi roto ātaahua, he kānapanapa te tae, pēnei i te emerara. | After a long time, the mountains agreed to reveal her to the Sun God in the form of a beautiful emerald-green lagoon. |
Ka taka i tētahi rā, ka whakatau te rā kia mutu tana huri haere i te ao i tēnei wāhi nei, kia para ai ia i tētahi ara hou, e tīmata ai anō i tētahi rā motuhake i ia tau, i ia tau. | On that day, the Sun decided to complete its journey around the world in this place and start anew every year on a special day. |
Ka taka te wā, ka tupu te aroha i waenganui i te roto emerara me ngā taumata o te maunga, me to aha anō, ka puta mai i a rāua tētahi hanga, he wahine, ko tōna ingoa ko Guaginasie, arā, ko te wai o te maunga, ko te tamāhine o Guatavita. | From the union of the emerald lagoon and the mighty hills had grown a love that would soon bear fruit in the form of a girl named Guaginasie, 'Mountain Water', daughter of Guatavita. |
Ka haere ngā tau, ka pakeke ake a Guaginasie hei wahine ātaahua, he kiri rauwhero tōna, ā, he makawe roa ōna, he mangu hoki.
A few years later, Guaginasie grew up to become a beautiful woman with bronze skin and long black hair.
Ka tae ia ki te tapa o te roto ki te kōrero ki ōna kuia kōhatu o te maunga ki te ako i ngā ara haere o te rā.
| She used to venture to the edge of the lagoon to talk with the grandmother mountain stones and learn about the ways of the Sun. |
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Ka taka i tētahi rā, ka tae te rangatira o Guatavita ki te roto. | One day, the Chief of Guatavita visited the lagoon. |
He tohunga whaimana ia nō te iwi Muysca, i haere mai ki te hāpai i ngā ritenga, ki te hopu hoki i ngā mātauranga nui o Kui Taiao. | He was a powerful Muysca priest who was there to perform his rituals and learn from the lagoon about the immense wisdom of Mother Earth. |
I tōna taenga mai, ka kite te rangatira nei i a Guaginasie e tata ana ki te rohenga, me te aha, hinga tonu atu rāua i te aroha ki a rāua anō. | On arriving, the Chief saw Guaginasie on the shore and they both fell in love immediately. |
Ka whakatata atu, kātahi ka pātai atu nō whea ia. | He approached her to talk and find out where she was from. |
Ka toro te rangatira i a ia i roto i ngā marama e hia nei, kātahi ia ka tono i a Guaginasie hei wahine māna, kia noho tahi hoki a Guaginasie i tōna taha i te riu o te awa o Tominé. | Then, after visiting her for many moons, he finally asked her to be his wife and to go live with him in the valley of the Tominé River. |
I mōhio a Guaginasie, kāore ia e wātea ki te whakarere i te roto mehemea kāore tōna whaea e whakaae, engari i whakaae tana whaea i runga i te here kotahi; arā, kia huri ngā marama e toru tekau mā whitu me hoki a Guaginasie rāua ko tana tamāhine ki te roto. | Guaginasie knew she could not leave the lagoon without her mother’s permission, who agreed under one condition; Guaginasie would have to return when she had a daughter, and she was thirty-seven moons old. |
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Ka wehe a Guaginasie ki te noho i te taha o te rangatira o te Guatavita me tōna iwi. | Guaginasie left to live with the Chief of Guatavita and his people. |
I whakaako ia i ngā akoranga ki te iwi Muysca i tukuna ki a ia e tōna matua maunga, e tōna ūkaipō, e Guatavita, e ngā kaumātua kōhatu me te rā, nāna i whakaatu tōna ara haere ki a ia i ia rā. | She taught the Muysca everything she had learnt from her father the mountain, her mother Guatavita, the grandmother stones, and the Sun, who showed her path every day. |
I pai a Guaginasie ki tōna iwi, ā, i āwhina noa ia i a rātou.
Guaginasie was very good to her people and helped them selflessly.
Nō konā hau ai tōna rongo i te nuku o te whenua mō tōna ngākau atawhai me tōna aroha. | Her fame of kindness and love extended across the land. |
Ka tae mai te iwi nui tonu i tawhiti rā anō ki te tono i a ia. | People came from far and wide to ask her for favours. |
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Ka noho, ka noho, ka whānau mai te tamāhine a Guaginasie, pēnei tonu i tā tāna whaea i kī ai, ā, ko Chutamasie te ingoa. Nō te huringa o ngā marama e toru tekau mā whitu, ka hoki rāua ki te roto. | After some time, Guaginasie had a daughter called Chutamasie and, when she turned thirty-seven moons of age, they both returned to the lagoon, just as her mother had said. |
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I haere tahi te rangatira o Guatavita me tōna iwi i te taha o Guaginasie me tana tamāhine, me Chutamasie ki te takere o te roto, kātahi ka whakarērea rāua kia noho mai i reira i tō rāua ūkaipō Guatavita, i te taha anō hoki o te nākahi wai, o Zetamasie, arā, tō rāua kaitiaki. | The Chief of Guatavita and his people accompanied Guaginasie and their daughter Chutamasie to the bottom of the lagoon and left them there to live with their mother Guatavita and Zetamasie, the water snake in charge of looking after them. |
E tiakina ana tēnei kōrero mō rāua e te iwi Muysca i tā rātou haere ki te roto ki te hāpai i ngā tikanga me ngā ritenga ki te kimi i ngā mātaunga o Guatavita, ki te tono āwhina hoki i a Guaginasie kia hiahiatia ana. | The Muysca people kept their memory alive by visiting the lagoon to perform ceremonies and rituals in search of Guatavita’s ancestral wisdom and to ask Guaginasie for help when they needed it. |
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E kore ai e wareware ēnei wāhine tokotoru, arā, a Guatavita, a Guaginasie, me Chutamasie, kua whakatau te iwi Muysca ki te whakarere i te roto me te whakanoho i a rātou anō i te wāhi e mōhiotia nuitia ana ko 'Te Tihi o ngā Wāhine Tokotoru'. | Guatavita, Guaginasie, and Chutamasie didn’t want the Muyscas to ever forget them, so one day they decided to come out of the lagoon and leave their mark in the famous ‘Peak of the Three Old Ones’. |
Nā, arā te nākahi wai, a Zetamasie, e kore nei e whakarere i ngā wāhine, nāna i waiho āna tamāhine nākahi iti nei i waenganui i ngā maunga, i runga hoki i te whenua, e mōhiotia ana ināianei hei kaitiaki i runga i ngā wai. | Zetamasie, the water snake that would never abandon them, left her daughters as she made her way through the mountains—the small snakes we know today as guardians of the water and this sacred land |
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Ahakoa rā kua kino tētahi taha o te roto i te maunga, kua maroke hoki i ngā rapunga kōura e huna ana, e mau tonu ana te ara e hoki ai te tangata, waihoki kei te takere o te roto e ora tonu mai ana ngā kura a ēnei wāhine tokotoru me te nākahi wai kia puta mai anō rā te iwi Muysca ki te whai ao, ki te ao mārama. | Although part of the mountain’s slope has been destroyed and part of the lagoon has been drained in search for hidden gold, the way back remains intact—as does the infinite treasure in these three women and the water snake: at the bottom of the lagoon where they continue to live with all their wisdom awaiting the coming rebirth of the Muysca people. |
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