Rich Myths Lie Beneath the Surface of Chilean Isle

Beneath the surface of this rustic archipelago’s simple ways are ghost ships, sea lion-men, fertility goddesses, witches in caves and evil elves who seduce young girls.

There is also Old Huenchula, the sea goddess who punishes islanders when they do wrong.

They are mythological creatures of Indian legend, well known to the 110,000 farmers and fishermen living along the inland waterways of these 33 islands in southern Chile.

But few talk about them to outsiders because islanders are sensitive to ridicule of their beliefs.

‘A Harmonious Life’

“Their legends aren’t anything strange or mysterious once you understand why people have told and retold them over the generations,” said Jorge Negron, who has been researching the legends for 12 years. “They reflect standards of conduct and punishment necessary for a harmonious life.”

Negron, a former forest ranger, moved here two decades ago and is writing a book that tries to make sense of the legends.

As an example, he cited Old Huenchula, who manifests herself to the islanders through the sound of the waves. When islanders use shovels and other implements to gather shellfish instead of their bare hands, she becomes irritated and punishes them.

A decade or so ago, Negron said, Huenchula got so angry about overfishing that she withheld the sea’s abundance for three years, and the local economy faltered.

A Rational Explanation

“The myth has a rational explanation,” he said. “It’s what we now know as ecology.”

Chilotes, as the islanders are called, are descended from the Choncho and Huilliche Indians who, according to archeologists, settled here at least 5,000 years ago. Chiloe, the largest island, is pronounced chee-lo-WAY and means “land of the sea gulls” in the native tongue.

The Indian language has given way to Spanish, but Chiloe remains a world apart from the rest of Chile.

Chilotes fish, farm, raise sheep, grind flour, cut timber and knit wool, maintaining near self-sufficiency in food, shelter and clothing through a barter economy.

Most of the islands lack electricity and telephones. A letter from Santiago, 828 miles to the north, can take 20 days to arrive.

News Via Radio

In recent decades, the arrival of tourists and transistor radios has somewhat broken Chiloe’s isolation but not entirely. A transistor radio, for example, brings news from Santiago, Chile’s capital, but islanders say they have to trade about 30 fish to obtain one.

“The islanders are stubborn about keeping their beliefs to themselves, because their contacts with outsiders have not been all good,” Negron said. “They have been degraded as ignorant and superstitious.”

A recent visitor who asked the meaning of the ghost ship Caleuche learned instead how secretive the Chilotes can be about their legends.

Laughter, Mock Fright

It was a moonlit outing in Tiburcio Turema’s fragile wooden sailboat. The dark, wiry old man had invited the visitor to accompany him on the water with his son and two neighbors. Then, amid laughter and mock fright, the four islanders fended off questions about the Caleuche.

The legendary vessel lurks in the fog, cruising at fantastic speeds above and below the water. Its crew of witches lure boatmen with their melodies and then enslave them.

Turema declined to say whether he believed the legend.

“Maybe it is you who is trying to bewitch us,” he told the visitor.