In the jungles of Belize a TATA DUENDE. TATA is the Mayan word for “old man” or “grandfather” and DUENDE, Spanish for “dwarf.”
He is described as a short man, three feet in height, with an ugly old face, wearing a large red hat, sometimes wearing animal skins, often carrying a machete or knotted stick, missing both thumbs, and with feet facing backward to throw people off his trail.
He is often sighted when it rains, and during Lent, especially around Good Friday. Almost all Tata sightings occur at night. When Tata approaches, a whistling sound can be heard, if the sound is loud and close, Tata is quite the trickster. It is time to worry only when the whistle is distant because that means he is actually close by.
The Tata Duende is the traditional guardian of all animals and people of the forest. A kind creature by nature, he is often said to feed, protect, and cure people hurt or lost in the forest. He is a close friend to the animals and punishes hunters that kill more game than they need.
The Garifuna call him DUENDU and say he is also the guardian of hidden treasures. If someone wants a meeting with him to reveal his treasures, they only need to carve a message to him in pine wood. Meetings generally occur at noon, and those wishing to find the treasure must bring a white rooster and a white sheet on which to make the offering. To further persuade him, one can promise Tata they're firstborn as part of the deal.
Tata does not have thumbs. It is said Tata has a strong desire to steal anyone’s thumbs he encounters. The only way to stop him is to hide your thumbs in the palms of your hands as soon as you see him. If you are quick and hide your thumbs, Tata takes an immediate liking to you. If Tata likes you, he will teach you to play his silver guitar or any other musical instrument you wish to learn.
When Tata is vexed, he can make anyone who sees him or is seen by him immobile, speechless, and fever-ridden for many days after their encounter. Tata’s mean streak comes out when anyone attempts to imitate his whistle. He is feared by hunters because if Tata sees them carrying a gun or a shovel in the forest on Fridays, he will chop off their heads and use them to decorate his own home.
He also enjoys braiding horse manes, as well as, little girls’ hair.
Fairy Lore is in many parts of the world. In Nova Scotia, it has for centuries. The Gaels, Acadians, and Mi'kmaq all have stories to tell about small, human-like creatures that dwell in nature.
And these stories explain that there is more to fairies than what we have seen in movies and heard in bedtime stories.
In Acadian folklore, it's believed that the lutins take the horses out at night and braid their manes to use them as stirrups.
Fairy-locks (or elf-locks) are the result of fairies tangling and knotting the hairs of sleeping children and the manes of horses as the fairies play in and out of their hair at night. I find it intriguing that a cultures across the globe speak of the same phenomenon, yet they are thousands of miles away from each other.
Sources
https://ldfieldjournal.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/belize-folklore-tata-duende/
https://www.academia.edu/3819433/The_urban_folklore_of_Otherworldly_horse_mane_braiding_and_the_persistence_of_superstition_regarding_witch_knots_in_horses_manes_from_Shakespeare_to_Spiritual_Warfare
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/behind-the-fairy-door-documentary-1.6574769
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