Title: El Sombreon

General Information about Item:

• Folklore
• Langauge: Spanish
• Country of Origin: Colombia
• Informant: JV
• Date Collected: October 21, 2021

Informant Data:

• JV grew up in Pereira Colombia, before immigrating to the US in 2000 to New York City, NY. JV lives in the predominantly Colombian neighborhood, Jackson Heights. JV is currently a college student who also works at Nike. 

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context: 

This tale scares young girls into obeying their parents and into being modest and coy around men. Observe those cultural norms, or you will be forced to eat dirt. In Colombian culture, having faith is very important because it demonstrates that you have morals and values.  

Social Context:

JV grew up in Colombia. In Colombia, it is said that El Sombreon roams the streets looking for beautiful girls with long hair. If he finds you, he will make you eat dirt, stalk and even kidnap you. In order to protect themselves from this dark figure, women must cut their hair and get blessed by a priest. 

Text:

A young girl that had pretty hair and eyes – was admiring the moon and stars from her balcony. One night when she was approached and serenaded by a man in a big hat. Worried and upset that their daughter was outside so late, her parents forced her to come inside. The man in the hat returned and serenaded her each night, making it impossible for her to sleep, and whenever her parents would try to feed her, she’d find the food contaminated with dirt. Fed up, the parents cut the girl’s hair and had it blessed by a priest. This caused the figure to stop bothering her, because of the holy water & because he didn’t like girls with pixie cuts.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

• “This is a tradition that is often seen in our culture where everyone except the children are aware of the tale… it is used to keep them in line.”

Informant’s Comments:

• I as a kid believed it as well

Collector’s Comments:

• I found this tale to be interesting because it is something that is seen across various cultures in Latin America

Collector’s Name: George Priest

Tags/Keywords:

• Verbal Lore
• Colombian
• Children

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