Mito y tradición oral entre los sumus del rio Bambana

Abstract

It has been traditionally assumed that the Sumus are members of the Misumalpan linguist family and, in cultural terms, are related to the macrochibchan stock. Besides that, it has also been assumed that the sumus were groups of forest people, nomadic, pre-agricultural, lacking order and religion, who by the evangelizing action of the European churches carne to know the advantages of civilization. The essay that we present unveils this myth -through myth-by assuming that myth and oral tradition are useful instruments for etno-historical knowledge. Sumus, the people of mayagna, people of the sun, are seen here, in a diachronic perspective, as having experienced a what Kirchhoff called Mesoamerica, form which he excluded sumus and Miskitus God-heros, characters, rites, weltanschauung, world origins, maize agriculture, are elements found in the Sumu mythology and in their practices that allow us to ascertain, if not their Mesoamerican origin, at least!  a close contact with Mayas and Aztecs.  Behind the sukias we find Quetzalcoatl. It is necessary to revise the traditional conceptions about Mesoamerica and the origins of the cultures of the Atlántico Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua.