The Myth of La Gaitana

This sculpture in the city of Neiva, Huila Department of Colombia depicts the myth of La Gaitana. I have not been able to find an english version of the story anywhere online – This is the story as it was told to me on the banks of the River Magdalena this past July.

During the Spanish conquest of Colombia there was a woman whose son was a powerful chief in the area of Neiva. As part of the quest for power and resources one of the conquistadors – a man called Vasco – had this chief killed and the body quartered, so saddening the mother that she sought revenge. She is known now as La Gaitana – the woman who killed Vasco, first dragging him around by a poker through the bottom of his chin, then gouging his eyes, then dragging his body by horse until she tired of the torture and finally beheaded him. She had to flee the town afterwards and escaped from her pursuers by jumping into the headwaters of the Magdalena River where she disappeared for good. There have been many sightings of this powerful woman over the ensuing centuries – a symbol of the fight against the colonialism that ripped apart indigenous Colombia still celebrated today.