Karu (Rodrigues’s Yurukaré account)

Overview

Karu begins when Tiri strikes his foot and loses the nail of his big toe. Tiri places it in the hollow of the wood responsible for the accident; hearing a voice behind him, he sees a man formed from it and names him Karu. Their relationship is described as companionship and confidence. The creation does not make Karu an explicitly biological son, and he is distinct from Cáru Sacaiby in the neighbouring Munduruku tale.

At a bird’s feast, the companions drink from a chicha vessel that never empties. Tiri throws it to the ground, and the released liquid floods the earth and kills Karu. Once the ground dries, Tiri gathers his companion’s bones and restores him. They later seek the company of other people, and the account describes human children born through unions with female animals.

When Karu’s son dies, Tiri eventually tells him to dig up the burial but not to eat what he finds. Karu discovers cassava roots and eats them. Tiri declares that this disobedience makes Karu and all humans mortal and subject to work and suffering. Later, Tiri shakes a duck from a tree, orders Karu to cook and eat it, then identifies the duck as his son. Karu vomits in distress, and parrots, toucans and other birds emerge. The text attributes the announcement about the duck to Tiri; it does not explain a continuous process by which the buried child became first cassava and then that bird.

The earlier Caru in d’Orbigny’s 1844 French text shares the toenail creation, flood death, restoration from bones and two separate meals. Several details differ. Tiri starts the flood with a light blow of a stick against the vessel, rather than throwing it down. The plant growing above Caru’s buried son is maní, glossed as pistachier terrestre, whose fruits he eats; Rodrigues instead describes cassava roots. Before the flood, the friends give salt to a bird that leaves it exposed to rain, which dissolves it and explains the lack of salt in the forest. That episode is retained as part of d’Orbigny’s account rather than inserted into Rodrigues’s shorter version. Neither spelling Caru nor shared creative power identifies this companion with the distinct Munduruku Cáru Sacaiby.

Origins & earliest records

Rodrigues1890, Tiri e Karu,252–255, labelled Yurukaré/Rio Mamoré, expressly cites d’Orbigny. The earlier French witness is Voyage dans l’Amérique méridionale, tomeIII, part1 (1844),209–215, in the narrative of1832 travels. On199 d’Orbigny credits Father Lacueva, an eighteen-year resident among Yurakaré people, for much of his regional description; he does not assign this whole myth to a named individual teller. Publication dates are not interview dates.

Records & interpretation

Complete Portuguese252–255 narrative and its footnotes visually read, through Tiri’s western departure;256blank. The preceding Munduruku Cáru/Rairu account is a distinct source and cast. Comparison with d’Orbigny’s complete209–215 myth sequence and contextual199 note; original title and213–215 scans confirm1844, maní and the immortal companions. The two authors’ wording and colonial generalizations are distinguished.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Poranduba amazonense, ou Kochiyma-uara porandub

   João Barbosa Rodrigues · 1890

   Complete Tiri e Karu,252–255, labelled Yurukaré/Rio Mamoré; explicitly cites d’Orbigny, whose earlier French version is separately compared.

2. 02

   Voyage dans l’Amérique méridionale, tomeIII, première partie: Partie historique

   Alcide d’Orbigny · 1844

   Complete myth sequence209–215, with regional provenance note199. Travels framed as1832; title1844 verified in original image. Lacueva credit concerns much of the regional description, not an individually attributed performance of each episode.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary textUFPE: Barbosa Rodrigues1890 original scanResearch access: 2026-10-05
2. Primary textInternet Archive / Smithsonian Libraries: d’Orbigny1844 tomeIII part1 originalResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.