Cabeça-de-Cuia is a folkloric character from the northeast region of Brazil, having its origin in the state of Piauí.
Legend[]
It is said that he was a fisher boy named Crispim who lived on the banks of the Parnaíba River with his family. From a poor family, Crispim lived alone with his mother, facing adversity due to the scarcity of fish in the river during the flood season.
One day Crispim left early to fish, but was unsuccessful in his endeavor. His mother, compassionate with the situation, asked the neighbor for something so that she could make her son's lunch. However, the only thing he was offered was an ox bone, with which Crispim's mother made a thin soup, without meat, with the bone only to flavor the water, mixed with flour.
Upon returning tired and frustrated from fishing, Crispim revolted when served with that bone soup. Amidst the conflicted climate of discussion, he threw the bone at his own mother, hitting her in the head and killing her. Before dying, the mother cast a curse on Crispim, turning him into a monster. Taken by the guilt of having killed his mother, Crispim, desperate, starts to run. As he runs, his head starts to grow like a huge gourd. From then on, he would wander between the two rivers that run for miles and meet in Teresina. His fate is to wander for six months on the Parnaíba River and six months on the Poty River. According to legend, Crispim will only be freed from the curse when he manages to devour seven virgins called Maria.
Some residents of riverside regions claim that Cabeça-de-Cuia, in addition to looking for virgins, murders river bathers and tries to capsize boats that pass by. Others also claim that Cabeça-de-Cuia seeks out women because he thinks that they, in fact, are his mother, who came to the Parnaíba river to forgive him.
Another version of the Cabeça-de-Cuia myth has him as a guardian of the waters of the Parnaíba and Poty rivers, considering that the ancient indigenous inhabitants of Piauí worshiped figures of the kind, later demonized by the colonizers. In piaga mythology, the Cabeça-de-Cuia is considered to be a friend of those who respect the rivers, but it can become aggressive towards those who desecrate its waters.
In 2003, Teresina City Hall instituted the Cabeça-de-Cuia Day to be celebrated on the last Friday of April.