Acai Berry History: A Touching Legend

Acai berry has been used by native South American tribes of the Amazon near the Para River for centuries before it is introduced to the modern world. Pronounced as "içá-çai" by the natives, which means "the fruit that cries", it has been taken as food and serves as medicine too. Behind its today's popularity, the name of "Acai" is actually coming from a touching legend of the native of the Amazon.

The acai berry history begins here.....

There was a tribe of people living near the mouth of the Amazon River facing the problem of insufficient food and threat of starvation due to rapidly increase in population. In his last effort to save his people, the tribe leader named Itaki had made a decree that all newborns and children would be sacrificed until a new food supply was found so that the adults will survive.

At that time, Itaki's daughter, Iaca was pregnant with a baby girl. Facing the same faith as the other women, the baby girl was born and sacrificed. The poor Iaca was devastated and she cried days and nights without having food.

One night, she heard a baby cry coming from the deep forest and recognized it as her baby's sound. She followed the sound that brought her to a tall palm tree, the acai palm tree. There, she found her dead daughter. To her surprise, the soulless baby girl had a bright smile on her face and in her eyes. Following the dead child's sightline, she found a lot of dark purple fruits on top of the palm tree that looked like the baby's eyes.

Iaca was found dead by the tribe with smile on her face and her eyes was still widely opened looking up at the fruits. Itaki ordered the tribe to harvest the fruits and served as food. This fruit had saved the tribe. Child birth was allowed and they had prospered again. In memory of his daughter Iaca, Itaki named the fruit after her daughter's name, but spelled backward, which is Acai.

Today, the population are known as Belém, staying in the state of Para, Brazil. This touching legend of acai berry remains rooted here.

References:

• Corey T Bruhn, "The Legend of the Acai Berry" ezine articles
• Jeremy Glennon, "Acai Berry Information-The History and Legend of the Acai Berry" suite101.com
• "Acai History: Unlocking The Secret", acai-health-essentials.com

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This page was last modified on: December 09, 2011