Contact us at: whispernthunder1@gmail.comWoman of the Corn
~ Dawn KARIMA
In the beginning of days, the first woman
was Selu the Corn Woman. The first man
was Selu's husband, Kanati. They lived
peacefully with their two tall, handsome
sons. Selu the Corn Woman awoke each
morning and left the house. Each evening,
she returned carrying a basket filled with
sweet, golden corn.
Soon, Selu the Corn Woman brought so
so much corn on a regular basis that her sons became curious. The next morning, they rose at sunrise. They watched their mother go to water and make a blessing. When she finished, her sons followed her stealthily.
Selu the Corn Woman walked into the woods. Her sons watched as she began to dance, the stomp dance step that Shellshakers use. While Selu the Corn Woman danced, yellow corn dropped from her hands and fell from her body. Her basket filled with plump, ripe corn.
The boys gasped in shock. When their mother heard them, she stopped dancing abruptly. "You disobeyed me," said Selu the Corn Woman. She warned her sons that the corn could only continue to come into the world if she was killed. The boys wept as they ended her life. Sweet corn began to grow under each drop of her blood.
The boys buried their mother in front of their house. Surprisingly, corn began to grow. Corn sustains the people and keeps them strong. Cherokee Elder Bascom Queen taught me this story. He said it showed the power of a mother's sacrifice.