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Zun zun The Taino Hummingbird Man
Illustrator: Angel Ortiz and Sean Behme
We based this piece on an old Taino myth, (here is some Intel on the story but i kept it to the broad stroke) were two star crossed lovers where force apart because of there circumstances. Zun zun's lover was transformed by the Zemi (spirits) into a beautiful flower and hidden away in the forest to save her from her fate. On the next day her lover Zun zun came to whisk her away but was too late and thought she had perished. Another Zemi took pity on him and told him that she was still alive in a new form but did not know her location. So on his request the Zemi proceeded to transform him into a hummingbird so that he can be capable to locate her and reunite with his love.
In our interpretation we decided to give him more of a half human/bird appearance, but to an ordinary human Zun zun is only perceived as a normal hummingbird. We based his look on the Red-billed streamertail, a hummingbird indigenous to Jamaica and also on an old Zemi figure based on a hummingbird. We wanted to show representations to the Tainos of Jamaica, designing him to be more Afro-native. We also wanted to show support and recognition to Afro-indigenous people something there not enough of.
(To add in a bit of info, to the Taino culture hummingbirds are seen as a symbol of masculinity and/or a warrior. But don't quote me on this I'm still learning.)
We Hope you like this piece, we try to be as accurate as possible with the information we have but we don't mind being corrected and informed on new details. Taino myth and legends can be hard to come by and can sometime be mixed with other Pre-Columbian cultures or can be inaccurate and modified by others over time. So basically we're trying our best.
Available At Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1107073286/zun-zun-the-taino-hummingbird-man
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