Case file · Folklore / legend
Kaieteur and Old Kaie
Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro river was first seen by a European, Charles Barrington Brown, on 29 April 1870. A Patamona legend says the falls are named for Kaie, an old chief who paddled over them to save his people.
1870 CE · 5.17, -59.48 · status: legend
The account
In the best-known version Kaie sacrificed himself to the great spirit Makonaima. The falls drop about 226 m in a single plunge.
The sceptical view
Several versions exist, some likely shaped in colonial retelling.