Foreword

A long time ago when the gods created all the animals, they decided to give each one a very special function; they took mud and corn and with them they formed what we know today. The powerful jaguars, the quetzals with their brightly colored feathers, the owl guide to the world of the dead, the wise serpent, the faithful xoloitzcuintles, among many others.

At the end of their creations, the gods noticed that they had not formed any animal to be in charge of communicating requests, wishes and messages, and by not having more than mud and corn to mold it; they took a small jade stone to which they shaped an arrow and finally, they blew on it to give it breath of life.

Immediately the little arrow began to spin rapidly, turning into a beautiful little bird with beautiful feathers; all the colors of the rainbow were reflected in them. Light and graceful, with its elongated beak, it could approach all the flowers without moving a single petal, and with its fleeting wings, the cute animal could fly anywhere in a short time. The gods, pleased by its creation, named it ts’unu’um in its language of origin, Maya, huitzilli in Nahuatl, although we now know it as hummingbird.

Seeing how much men longed to adorn themselves with its exquisite plumage, the gods warned them of the severe punishment they would receive if anyone dared to capture it. 3 This was how the hummingbird, since ancient times, became the emissary in charge of transmitting messages to the gods; that is why when one of them suddenly appears, it means that it carries the thoughts and emotions of someone very special.

Next, you will witness five stories in which the hummingbird helped human beings with his magical gift, we advise you to be very attentive because the next adventure could happen to you.

“I was eight years old and my brother was eleven when they gave us a chick at the flea market. Most of them were painted in bright colors but I fell in love with the only one that still kept its yellow color. When I got home I was very happy and I played with the chick all afternoon; the next morning he was dead. My brother said that I was so annoying that everyone got tired of me very soon, maybe he was right, and that’s why a year later my parents divorced…”

Lic. Adelfo Regino Montes
Managing Director
Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas

Mtra. Bertha Dimas Huacuz
General Coordinator of Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Education

José Luis Sarmiento Gutiérrez
Director of Social Communication

Mayra Lisset Morales Martínez

Ilustraciones
Paola Lizbeth López Arias

Corrección de estilo
Victoria Cea

Diseño editorial
Paola Lizbeth López Arias

Coordinación
Norberto Zamora Pérez