The legend of Açaí is a legend from Belém do Pará that explains the origin of the açaí tree.
Legend[]
Legend has it that in the region of Belém do Pará there was a tribe whose number of inhabitants was quite high. For this reason, every day it was becoming more and more difficult to get enough food for everyone. Itaki, the tribe's chief at the time, was forced to make a somewhat radical decision that shocked everyone: as a form of population control, all children born after a certain date would have to be sacrificed.
One day, this drastic measure affected Itaki's own family. His daughter, Iaçã, gave birth to a girl who soon had to be sacrificed. Iaçã suffered greatly with the death of her little daughter, she spent weeks locked in her room, never stopping crying. Thus, Iaçã raised her thoughts to Tupã and asked him to make her father find another way to resolve the issue of food provision that did not involve the sacrifice of children. Tupã was very touched by her pain and decided that he would help Iaçã.
It was then that, one day, Iaçã heard a child crying coming from outside her house. Upon leaving, to her surprise and happiness, she saw her little daughter, apparently alive, standing above her grave. Iaçã ran towards the girl and hugged her. At that moment, the little girl mysteriously disappeared in her mother's arms. Once again inconsolable, Iaçã cried so much during the night to the point of losing her strength and eventually passing away.
Iaçã's body was found the next morning with a serene appearance and seemed to be smiling slightly while hugging a mysterious palm tree that had appeared out of nowhere. Her eyes were wide open and directed towards the top of the tree. Following his daughter's gaze, Itaki noticed that the top of the palm tree contained a small dark fruit. The chief then ordered that all the fruits to be harvested, from which a reddish and very thick juice was made that fed his tribe's entire population and ended the food shortage.
It is said that, in honor of his daughter, the chief named the leafy tree and its fruit açaí, which is Iaçã spelled backwards.