Have You Heard of ‘La Carreta Nagua’?
When the dark, silent night passes over the country, thousands of Nicaraguans lie trembling under their bedsheets, listening warily for the clatter of the carriage led by death himself. He sits upon the decaying wagon, a figure of mere bones veiled in a white cloak, as he points his scythe and directs his two haggard oxen through each unsuspecting neighborhood. A final jolt of terror strikes those who peek from their bedroom windows as La Carreta Nagua disappears just before reaching their street corner, the echo of its turning wheels plaguing the next set of slumbering citizens. The following morning, people whisper in fright and clamp their hands over their mouths as someone who was previously bursting with life and good health is pronounced dead.
It all started with the Nicarao tribe, the indigenous people who resided in what is now western Nicaragua. During the period of Spaniard colonization, the Spanish subjected the Nicarao people to an abundance of mistreatments including forced labor, exploitation, looting, and suppression of indigenous culture. This is believed to have inspired the legend of La Carreta Nagua. Similar to how the ghostly wagon appears in neighborhoods late at night, the Spanish would bring their caravans through the pueblos, plundering the natives’ land and killing or enslaving them. When the Nicarao people heard the noisy caravans stalking through the streets, they knew the Spanish were coming to attack and, in the same manner, the sound of La Carreta Nagua signifies impending death.
Many believe La Carreta Nagua to be a mere metaphor for Spanish conquest, but others theorize that it is the ghostly manifestation of the distressed souls claimed by the conquistadors.
To this day, La Carreta Nagua remains an integral part of Nicaraguan culture as it showcases the long history of colonization and its continued relevance to the country. It is also popularly used as a scare tactic to ensure children don’t play outside too late and stay in bed at night. According to my mother, whenever she and her friends heard the words, “¡Ya viene La Carreta Nagua!” or “Here comes the Carreta Nagua,” all the kids would drop what they were doing and fearfully rush inside their homes.
Whether you consider this tale just another myth or believe that the apparition truly haunts the streets, when you hear the clatter of a wagon in the dead of night, beware La Carreta Nagua!
