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Jambato negro
Jan. 23rd, 2023 04:44 pm"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.
( rough and ready translation of the lyrics )
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 ~ ~
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.
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.
( rough and ready translation of the lyrics )
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 ~ ~
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.
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