Buru (legendary creature)

Last updated
Buru
Other name(s)bura, buro, bru
Country India
Region Arunachal Pradesh
DetailsMarsh

The buru or bura is an aquatic cryptic animal featured in a foundation myth of the Apatani people. [1] Stories of the migration of the Apatani to their present location in the Ziro Valley of Arunachal Pradesh tell of a swamp occupying the valley, inhabited by fierce, crocodile-like creatures. [2] Draining the swamp and destroying the creatures allowed them to cultivate fertile paddy fields and settle the valley.

In 1945 and 1946, James Phillip Mills and Charles Stonor gathered details about Buru from the Apatani people. According to the Apatani elders, when their forefathers migrated to Ziro valley, the valley was primarily a marsh which was populated by Burus. The Apatani people decided to settle in the valley because of its fertility and good climate. But every now and then they would have confrontations with burus. So they decided to drain the marsh of its water and thus eliminate the Burus when they were draining swamps for rice cultivation. [3] Most of the Burus died because of the drainage, and many supposedly went underground into the springs.

In 1947, Professor Christopher von Furer-Haimendorf was another westerner to be told about the Buru. By that time, the animals had reportedly already become extinct in the valley. [4]

The last Buru was said to be reported by a young woman, who sighted it in a spring one night while she was drawing water. The startled lady told her father about the incident. The next day the whole village helped fill the spring with stones and clay.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choctaw mythology</span> Part of the culture of the Choctaw

Choctaw mythology is part of the culture of the Choctaw, a Native American tribe originally occupying a large territory in the present-day Southeastern United States: much of the states of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. In the 19th century, the Choctaw were known to European Americans as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" even though controversy surrounds their removal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hopi mythology</span> Native American mythology

The Hopi maintain a complex religious and mythological tradition stretching back over centuries. However, it is difficult to definitively state what all Hopis as a group believe. Like the oral traditions of many other societies, Hopi mythology is not always told consistently and each Hopi mesa, or even each village, may have its own version of a particular story, but "in essence the variants of the Hopi myth bear marked similarity to one another." It is also not clear that the stories told to non-Hopis, such as anthropologists and ethnographers, represent genuine Hopi beliefs or are merely stories told to the curious while keeping safe the more sacred Hopi teachings. As folklorist Harold Courlander states, "there is a Hopi reticence about discussing matters that could be considered ritual secrets or religion-oriented traditions."

The Abenaki people are an indigenous peoples of the Americas located in the Northeastern Woodlands region. Their religious beliefs are part of the Midewiwin tradition, with ceremonies led by medicine keepers, called Medeoulin or Mdawinno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barton Broad</span> Nature reserve north-east of Norwich in Norfolk

Barton Broad is a large lake that forms part of the River Ant which gives its name to a 164-hectare (410-acre) nature reserve north-east of Norwich in Norfolk. The reserve is owned and managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. It is part of the Ant Broads and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve, and part of it is in the Ant Marshes Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. It is part of the Broadland Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and The Broads Special Area of Conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squonk</span> Mythical creature from American folklore

The squonk is a mythical creature that is reputed to live in the hemlock forests of northern Pennsylvania in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsh</span> Low-lying and seasonally waterlogged land

In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants. More in general, the word can be used for any low-lying and seasonally waterlogged terrain. In Europe and in agricultural literature low-lying meadows that require draining and embanked polderlands are also referred to as marshes or marshland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigris–Euphrates river system</span> River system in the Middle East

The Tigris–Euphrates river system is a large river system in Western Asia that discharges into the Persian Gulf. Its principal rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates, along with smaller tributaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Johns River</span> The longest river in Florida, United States

The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and it is the most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At 310 miles (500 km) long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in elevation from headwaters to mouth is less than 30 feet (9 m); like most Florida waterways, the St. Johns has a very slow flow speed of 0.3 mph (0.13 m/s), and is often described as "lazy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apatani people</span> Ethnic group living in Northeast India

The Apatani people are an ethnic group who live in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Subansiri region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hula Valley</span> Agricultural wetland region in northern Israel

The Hula Valley is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water that used to be Lake Hula before it was drained. It is a major stopover for birds migrating along the Great Rift Valley between Africa, Europe, and Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontine Marshes</span> Former marshland near Rome, Italy

The Pontine Marshes is an approximately quadrangular area of former marshland in the Lazio Region of central Italy, extending along the coast southeast of Rome about 45 km (28 mi) from just east of Anzio to Terracina, varying in distance inland between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Volscian Mountains from 15 to 25 km. The northwestern border runs approximately from the mouth of the river Astura along the river and from its upper reaches to Cori in the Monti Lepini.

Sanitation in ancient Rome, acquired from the Etruscans, was very advanced compared to other ancient cities and provided water supply and sanitation services to residents of Rome. Although there were many sewers, public latrines, baths and other sanitation infrastructure, disease was still rampant. The baths are known to symbolise the "great hygiene of Rome".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography and ecology of the Everglades</span> Details of the natural environment of the Everglades

Before drainage, the Everglades, a region of tropical wetlands in southern Florida, were an interwoven mesh of marshes and prairies covering 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2). The Everglades is both a vast watershed that has historically extended from Lake Okeechobee 100 miles (160 km) south to Florida Bay, and many interconnected ecosystems within a geographic boundary. It is such a unique meeting of water, land, and climate that the use of either singular or plural to refer to the Everglades is appropriate. When Marjory Stoneman Douglas wrote her definitive description of the region in 1947, she used the metaphor "River of Grass" to explain the blending of water and plant life.

The Apatanis who inhabit a tranquil pine clad valley called Ziro at the core of Lower Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh, are famous for their unique practice of wet rice cultivation. They are also known for their sustainable agricultural practices and the agricultural cycles govern their everyday lives. The agricultural festival of Dree is the highlight in this cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner Lakes</span> Endorheic lake in Oregon, United States

The Warner Lakes are a chain of shallow lakes and marshes in the Warner Valley of eastern Lake County, Oregon, United States. The lakes extend the length of the valley, covering approximately 90,000 acres (360 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Izzard</span> English author and journalist (1910–1992)

Ralph William Burdick Izzard, OBE was an English journalist, author, adventurer and, during World War II, a British Naval Intelligence officer.

Apatani is a Tani language, a branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, spoken in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleontology in Kansas</span>

Paleontology in Kansas refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Kansas. Kansas has been the source of some of the most spectacular fossil discoveries in US history. The fossil record of Kansas spans from the Cambrian to the Pleistocene. From the Cambrian to the Devonian, Kansas was covered by a shallow sea. During the ensuing Carboniferous the local sea level began to rise and fall. When sea levels were low the state was home to richly vegetated deltaic swamps where early amphibians and reptiles lived. Seas expanded across most of the state again during the Permian, but on land the state was home to thousands of different insect species. The popular pterosaur Pteranodon is best known from this state. During the early part of the Cenozoic era Kansas became a savannah environment. Later, during the Ice Age, glaciers briefly entered the state, which was home to camels, mammoths, mastodons, and saber-teeth. Local fossils may have inspired Native Americans to regard some local hills as the homes of sacred spirit animals. Major scientific discoveries in Kansas included the pterosaur Pteranodon and a fossil of the fish Xiphactinus that died in the act of swallowing another fish.

In Slavic mythology, bolotnik, balotnik, bolotyanik or błotnik is a male swamp spirit. There are many descriptions of bolotnik. Usually he was portrayed as a man or an old man who has big, frog-like eyes, a green beard and long hair. His body is covered with dirt, algae and fish scales. The legends from the Vitebsk Governorate of Russia said that bolotnik is a dirty, fat, eyeless creature that motionlessly sits at the bottom of the swamp. In some accounts bolotnik is also said to have long arms and a tail. Just like the majority of Slavic water spirits, he would lure and drag people into the water if they get close to the edge. It is believed that bolotnik has neither wife nor children; in the other legends he is married to bolotnitsa, a female swamp spirit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tage Rita</span>

Tage Rita is an agricultural engineer from Ziro Valley and is India's first kiwi wine brewer. In 2018, she was honored with the Women Transforming India Awards, organized by the United Nations and NITI Aayog.

References

  1. Blackburn, S. H. (2008). Himalayan tribal tales: Oral tradition and culture in the Apatani Valley. Brill. pp. 117–118. ISBN   9789004171336 . Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  2. "Apatani Cultural Landscape". UNESCO.
  3. George M. Eberhart (2002). Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology . ABC-CLIO. p.  77. ISBN   9781576072837.
  4. The Apa Tanis and Their Neighbours: A Primitive Civilization of the Eastern Himalayas. Psychology Press. 2004. p. 63. ISBN   9780415330473.