<\/p>\n
The Renaico River is a place where many tales are told. These stories usually come from the area\u2019s inhabitants and fishermen, who turn their life experiences into myths and legends.<\/p>\n
Punalka<\/p>\n
The ngen<\/em>, or spirits of the Mapuche cosmovision, inhabit the Renaico River. One of these spirits is the Punalka<\/em>, or \u201criver animal,\u201d who owns and protects the river. The Punalka<\/em> takes on different forms, like a big fish or a horse. This mythological animal inhabits the entire Renaico river basin. Many fishermen say that they\u2019ve run into a giant fish\u2014possibly the physical manifestation of the Punalka<\/em>\u2014as they\u2019ve traveled along the river.<\/p>\n Huinmal\u00e9n<\/p>\n The people of Renaico know this story well, of a little girl in a white dress who combs her blond hair over and over, as if she were watching herself in a mirror. Sometimes she appears in the middle of the river; other times she appears on a rock, or on the riverbanks. Her presence is a bad omen, though she can also appear in the middle of a cloud following a catastrophe. Mapuche communities all along the Renaico River know about her. They say that she, too, is a ngen<\/em> that inhabits the river, and that when she disappears, she turns into a fish and swims away.<\/p>\n Ngen-ko<\/p>\n