Carnival in Bolivia: Devils dancing for the virgin

Western Folklore, Summer 1999 by Lecount, Cynthia

Nusta realized they needed to terrify Huari once and for all, so she planted a cross-shaped sword into a hilltop near Oruro. Peace returned to the region [Christianity prevailed]. The people believe that the undefeatable Nusta was reincarnated as the Virgin of Socavon. To this day there is a lake near Oruro where the water runs red at certain times of the day, and is rumored to be the blood of the monster lizard. Today on the hills around Oruro, one can find long sinuous rock out-croppings that resemble the petrified snake and lizard in the area where Nusta supposedly destroyed her enemies. And the sand dunes which represent the masses of ants can also be seen near Oruro (Beltran Heredia and C. E Beltran 1970 [1956]; my translation).

HISTORY OF THE DIABLADA

The history of devil dancers performing the Bolivian Diab/ada necessarily begins in Oruro, where the miraculous image of the Virgin was found and where the legendary events took place. Reputedly these events prompted the miners to wear devil costumes and to organize the first devil dance group. The Diabladas of La Paz, Toledo, Llallagua, and other towns seem to be offshoots of the original from Oruro.

In the early years of the 17th century, in the course of working with the indigenous miners who labored in the rich silver mines of the Oruro-Urus region, the Spanish mineowners encountered the legend of Supay, the spirit or god who lived in the depths of the earth. They learned that the native peoples had been mining-invading the underground world of Supay and needing to appease him-long before they arrived. The indigenous miners believed Supay was lord and owner of the mineral wealth in the mountains and that he would either offer up riches, or prevent them from being found, even to the point of causing cave-ins and eating men. Supay's attitude depended on the type of offerings and respect he was given by his sobrinos (nephews). The Spaniards discovered that the miners forbade women to enter the mines, because Supay dislikes women and hates to have them come into his underground abode; if a woman enters a mine, the miners believe they will lose the best veins (Boero Rojo 1991: 44). The Spaniards also discovered that in niches in every mineshaft, workers had built earthen images of Supay, flanked by continuously burning candles. The miners invoked Supay's protection with offerings of alcohol and coca leaves to the image. In an attempt at syncretization, the Spaniards decided that since Supay lived underground and could cause bad luck, the concept corresponded reasonably closely in both spirit and physical appearance to their image of the Catholic devil in Hell.

Today in Oruro, the most important Carnival activities take place in and around the Iglesia del Socavon (Church of the Mineshaft), built to honor the miraculous appearance of the Virgen del Socavon. The imposing stone and cinderblock church abuts a barren hill overlooking town; the church was constructed literally on top of the mineshaft at the legendary site of the thief's den. Part of the original mine and tunnel has been converted into a museum into which visitors descend through a doorway inside the church. In an alcove of the tunnel lies a life-sized model of Chiru-Chiru, the legendary thief, dead on his bed. At the bottom of the mineshaft, sits a human-sized figure of Supay, also called el tio, in a display shrine. He wears a red Diab/ada dance outfit typical of ten or fifteen years ago, with the rigid cape of a Lucifer figure, embroidered with serpents and dragons. On his head he wears a simple red mask with a thin goatee and mustache, short horns, large ears, and clear light-bulb eyes. Black rubber work gloves cover his hands; he holds facsimile United States dollar bills and a cigarette in his left hand and a bundle of lottery tickets in his right. On his feet he wears yellow rubber galoshes like the miners use to work in muddy tunnels. A dusting of white confetti covers el tio, and offerings of cigarettes, piles of coca leaves, and bottles of spirits left by grateful and fearful miners surround his feet.