For the Embera Katío people in the Chocó department, Caragabí is the god who created the world and gave them water. At first, Caragabí’s world had no water and after searching without success, Caragabí met a woman named Gentserá, who seemed to have bathed. Caragabí asked her where she had gotten water and she deceived him.
Noticing the lie, Caragabí decided to follow her and saw that she was passing through the great Jenené tree through a transparent door. As he approached the door, the god saw large pools of crystal clear water. Caragabí asked Gentserá for water but she refused, so the god punished her, turning her into an ant.
Afterwards, Caragabí tried to knock down the Jenené many times without success. He asked the Embera Katío to use their most powerful axes and they could not bring it down either. Finally, Caragabí gathered the squirrels and monkeys to untie Jenené from the vines that held him and the tree finally fell.
The Pacific and Atlantic oceans were created from Jenené’s fallen trunk, its large branches became the Atrato and San Juan rivers, and the smaller ones turned into streams, marshes and lakes.
