Tunda

The Tunda (Spanish: La Tunda) is a myth of the Pacific coastal region of Colombia and Ecuador,^[1] and particularly in the Afro-Colombian community of the Chocó department,^[2] about a shapeshifting entity, resembling a human female, that lures people into the forests and keeps them there.

It is capable of changing its shape to appear in the form of a loved one, as in the likeness of a child's mother, to lure its victims into the forest and feed them with shrimps she has farted upon (camarones peídos) to keep them docile. This is called entundamiento and a person in this state is entundado(a).^[3]

Her shapeshifting abilities are said to be imperfect, as this doppelgänger of sorts would always have a wooden leg in the shape of a molinillo, or wooden kitchen utensil used to stir hot drinks such as chocolate or aguapanela. The monster, however, is very cunning when trying to hide this defect from its would-be victims.^[4] In other versions, it appears to male loggers or hunters working deep into the jungle as a beautiful woman that tries to lure a man away, so it can reveal its hideous nature and suck his blood or devour him as a wild animal.

References[]

^ Leyenda “La Tunda”
^ La Leyenda de La Tunda
^ González Cortés, Flover. 2001. Fantasmagorías. Mitos y leyendas del Pacífico colombiano
^ Puertas Arias, Esperanza. 2000. Del Pacífico colombiano, La Tunda: Mito y realidad. Sus funciones sociales