asakiyume | Jambato negro

"We thought that the jambato toad was gone forever until one morning in Angamarca, Ecuador, a boy found one in the grass by his house."

This beautiful song by the group (family, actually) Jacana Jacana is about Atelopus ignescens, a little black toad with a golden belly: he carries his own sunshine with him. It was believed that this toad went extinct in the 1980s, until 2016, when, as the quote says, a boy discovered one by his house.

Near the end of the song, the chorus is sung in Kichwa (Quechua), a common spoken language in that part of Ecuador, and at the very end, a voice says, "May the little black toads return and gladden us with their song." The credits tell us that that's David Jailaca--the boy (well, man, now) who found the toad that proved that Atelopus ignescens were not extinct after all.

In this mountain sings a little toad
the jambato toad in my garden
it sings at sunrise
and when the sun is going to hide
ah ooh
ooh–ooh
let the beans grow
again on my mountain
Though nobody had seen you
I knew that you were alive
and so
I searched for you
I searched for you
I went out with my little llama
To look for you in the grasses
and then
I found you
I found you
black toad
of our Mother Earth
within a cloud
I came upon you while I was dreaming
black toad
of our Mother Earth
later in the clear water
of the arroyo, you were singing
ah ooh!
ooh–ooh!
phuyupi muskuypi
kanta mashkarkani
ooh!
ooh–ooh!
jambatu jambatuku
Pachamamamanta
ooh!
ooh–ooh!
toad, little toad
of our Mother Earth
ooh!
ooh–ooh!
heart of fire
that lights my morning.

The story of Atelopus ignescens is moving all on its own--to see that against all odds the small and fragile creatures of the world sometimes recover and return, even when we think they're gone for good. But the lyrics add an almost religious sense of faith: "although nobody had seen you, I knew you were alive, and so I searched for you--and then I found you." The black toad with the heart of fire is like a divinity who withdrew from us for a while... and then came back. ~ ~ Gratitude ~ ~

Watch on YouTube

The family comprising Jacana Jacana (a couple and their daughter--here's an article about them), specialize in songs about the natural world--they sing about insects and amphibians and mangos, and wherever they are, they get the children in the area to join in the singing and the videography, and their songs feature words in the indigenous languages of the places they're visiting. So they're celebrating and lifting up multiple types of diversity.