Motif
Mother's body as source of staple crops, misread as witchcraft
mother_s_body_as_source_of_staple_crops_misread_as_witchcraft
A motif of the Primordial Sacrifice and Dismemberment family. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
native american southeast
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Myths of the Cherokee III--NOTES TO THE HISTORICAL SKETCH / SYNONYMS / IV--STORIES AND STORY TELLERS / V--THE MYTHS; lines 11609-11695 confidence: high
The boys peek through a clay gap and see Selu rub her stomach so the basket becomes half full of corn, then rub under her armpits so it becomes full of beans.
Selu is seen producing corn and beans into a basket from her body, after which the boys call her a witch, fear poison, and decide to kill her.
read in the book →