Case file · Folklore / legend
Cabeça de Cuia of the Parnaíba
In Teresina, Piauí, the legend of Crispim tells of a young fisherman who killed his mother with a bone and was cursed to haunt the Parnaíba and Poti rivers with a huge gourd-shaped head until he devours seven virgins named Maria. It became widely known in Piauí at the end of the 19th century.
1890 CE · -5.04, -42.83 · status: legend
The account
A monument of the creature and the seven Marias stands at the Encontro dos Rios park in Poti Velho, where the two rivers meet. The state declared the legend intangible heritage in October 2023. The year marks its approximate spread, not a precise attestation.