| Ebu Gogo is a human like creature(or race of creatures) that appears in the mythology of the people of the island of flores,idonesia,of similar form to the leprechaun or elf. These little "people" are said to be about one meter tall, their passion fruit size head covered in hair, pot-bellied, with ears that stick out. They are held to walk somewhat awkwardly and are often said to be "murmuring" in what is assumed to be their on language. It is also said by the islanders that the Ebu Gogo can repeat what is said to them in parrot-like fashion. The legends relating to the Ebu Gogo were traditionally, according to the journal Nature, attributed to monkeys, which do not exist on flores but were known on other islands from were the current flores population comes. These legends may represent a folk memory of the island's previous inhabitants who were supplanted by the current population, or they may a supernatural understanding if the islanders' deceased ancestors. The people of flores believe that the Ebu Gogo were alive at the time of the arrival of the portuguese trading ships over 400 years ago, and some hold that they survived as recently as 100 years ago but are now no longer seen. An article in New Scientist(vol.186, No.2504) gives the following account of folklore flores surrounding Ebu Gogo. The Nage people of central flores tell how, some 300 years ago,villagers disposed of the Ebu Gogo by tricking them into accepting gifts of palm fiber to make clothes. When the Ebu Gogo took the fiber into their cave, the villagers threw in a firebrand to set it alight. The story goes that all the occupants were killed, except perhaps for one pair, who fled into the deepest forest, and whose descendants may be living there still. The article goes on to say that such tales are common in Indonesia, according to antropologist Gregory Forth. There are also legends about the Ebu Gogo kidnapping human children, to learn from them how to cook. The children always easily outwit the Ebu Gogo in the tales. The discovery in 2003 on flores of remains of a meter -tall hominid, Homo floresiensis, has inspired more literal interpretations of the Ebu Gogo stories. H. floresiensis survived at least 13,000 years ago. Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman connects the tales of the Ebu Gogo to other "Proto-Pygmy" sightings from throughout south Asia. Coleman links these traditions to the survival of small, hairy hominoids, as noted in this book The field Guilde to Bigfoot and other Mystery Primates(NY: Anomalist Books, 2006), coauthored with Patrick Huyghe. The book's cover is illustrated with a drawing of the Ebu Gogo. | | #REDIRECT [[Ebu Gogo]] |
