Caipora, mistress of the animals on the peccary
By Ralf Ittermann · last reviewed on
The Caipora is a female spirit of the Tupi tradition of Brazil.
The forest mistress rides on the peccary and punishes excess.
Caipora is the mistress of the forest and of the animals in the Tupi tradition of Brazil. As a small, dark, wild and hairy figure, often riding a peccary, she drives game to safety and punishes hunters who kill more than needed; but in exchange for tobacco and offerings she grants hunting luck.
Her origin is precolonial, yet unlike Curupira and Anhanga, the Caipora is not clearly documented among the early Jesuits and is therefore regarded as partly postcolonially shaped. The figure was systematised by Luís da Câmara Cascudo, who also recorded the decisive distinguishing feature: the Caipora has normal feet.
Type: Forest protective spirit and mistress of the animals
Origin: Tupi tradition of Brazil, precolonial origin, partly postcolonially shaped
Texts: Dicionário do Folclore Brasileiro and Geografia dos Mitos Brasileiros (Câmara Cascudo)
Period: precolonial to the present
Appearance: small, dark, wild and hairy, often riding a peccary
Textual history
Period of the Texts
Precolonial Tupi origin, partly postcolonially shaped; the figure was systematised by Luís da Câmara Cascudo. Unlike Curupira and Anhanga, she is not clearly documented among the early Jesuits.
Area of Diffusion
All of Brazil, especially the northeast and Amazonia. There the Caipora is regarded as mistress over game and its hunters.
Sources
Good: the standard works of Câmara Cascudo, above all the Dicionário do Folclore Brasileiro and the Geografia dos Mitos Brasileiros.
Name and variants
Tupi: from ka’a, forest, and pora, inhabitant, thus forest dweller. According to Câmara Cascudo, Curupira and Caapora regionally merged into the Caipora figure; in the Dicionário do Folclore Brasileiro she is distinguished from the Curupira by having normal feet.
Nature and effect
Appearance
The Caipora is a small, dark, wild and hairy figure, often riding a peccary. Wildness, darkness and the mount mark her as an embodiment of the untamed wilderness; the absent twisted feet distinguish her from the Curupira, with whom she otherwise often merges.
Effect
The Caipora protects wildlife populations, sabotages hunts by scaring away game and confusing hunters, and punishes excess. At the same time she is regarded as a bringer of luck for respectful hunters who honour the pact and bring offerings.
Profile: Caipora
The most important aspects of the forest mistress at a glance.
Hunters, especially those who kill in excess; those who hunt respectfully and bring offerings can instead receive hunting luck.
Small, dark, wild and hairy figure on a peccary; normal feet, in contrast to the twisted feet of the Curupira.
Protection of wildlife populations, sabotage of excessive hunts, punishment of excess; in exchange for offerings she grants hunting luck.
A tobacco offering at the tree stump, classically on Thursday night, with the formula Take it, Caipora, let me pass; along with cachaça and unseasoned porridge. She hates pepper.
Forest dweller between Tupi roots and folclore
The name is Tupi, from ka’a, forest, and pora, dweller, thus forest dweller. According to Luís da Câmara Cascudo, Curupira and Caapora merged regionally into the Caipora figure; in the Dicionário do Folclore Brasileiro she differs from the Curupira in having normal feet, while the twisted feet belong to the Curupira.
Unlike Curupira and Anhanga, the Caipora is not clearly attested among the early Jesuits. She is therefore considered partly shaped in the postcolonial period: a figure with a precolonial Tupi core, whose present-day image only solidified in later tradition and in Cascudo’s systematisation.
From children's books to an environmental icon
The Caipora is a firm part of the Brazilian folclore canon, present in children’s books, comics, games and environmental education, often alongside the Curupira as an environmental icon.
From the perspective of religious studies, the Caipora is a forest protective spirit and a mistress of animals, bearer of a hunting taboo under which subsistence hunting is permitted and excess is punished. She is an ecological figure of sanction with an ambivalent, protective yet punishing character: the same figure who confuses the wrongdoer grants hunting luck to the respectful.
Tobacco for the mistress of the forest
Well attested is the tobacco offering at the tree stump, classically on Thursday night before the hunt, with the formula Take it, Caipora, let me pass. Further gifts are cachaça and a porridge without salt or sugar; she particularly hates pepper. In addition, there are hunting taboos on certain days when the Caipora is especially active, and the basic rule of taking only what one needs.
Caipora, Curupira and the mistress of animals
The Caipora forms, together with the Curupira and the Anhanga, the Tupi triad of forest lords. She is closely related to and regionally merged above all with the Curupira, but according to Cascudo distinguishable: she has normal feet and rides the peccary, the twisted feet being the Curupira’s trait; the Anhanga, in turn, watches specifically over game. As a mistress of animals she represents an archetype embodied in the Slavic world by the forest lord Leshy.
Frequently asked questions about Caipora
Is Caipora the same as Curupira?
Closely related and regionally merged, but distinguishable according to Cascudo: the Caipora has normal feet and often rides a peccary, the twisted feet being the Curupira’s trait.
How is Caipora appeased?
With tobacco, classically on Thursdays at a tree stump, with cachaça and unseasoned porridge, and by hunting only as much as needed.
Whom does she punish?
Hunters who kill for pleasure or in excess and disrespect the forest.
Further links
Further reading:
- Curupira – the forest protector with the twisted feet
- Anhanga – the protective spirit of game from the same triad
- Leshy – the Slavic forest lord as an archetypal counterpart
- Smoke cleansing, Amulet, Mugwort – traditional protective means
- Protection Compass – protective means at a glance
Literature (selection)
Further standard works in the bibliography.
As the mistress of Brazil’s animals and at the same time a Tupi forest spirit with a clear standard, the Caipora permits subsistence hunting and punishes excess: whoever brings tobacco and takes only what they need has the mistress of the forest on their side.
