The Corn Women Selu

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Recommended: Cherokee tribes in North America

The Corn Women – Selu
There are billions of legends recorded from the heart and souls of the Native American people. Some are told as they have been for thousands of years while others are still being created, refitted and reshaped today. The myths and stories of many Native Americans arise from animals, plants, medicine, the elements, music and much more. One tribe, the Cherokee, a Native North American people who once lived in the southeastern United States, has an endless amount of lore. I believe one of the most significant tales in Cherokee myths is about “the corn women”; her story created a basis of purpose for the Cherokee women and indirectly taught the men their roles (Krupat 2005). Often called Selu, she is a part of many different stories. Selu was the first woman and mother, she was the goddess of the corn and gave life and food to the Cherokee people.
The maiden of the corn, mother of corn and/or the first mother, Selu’s tales have been told for countless years. She is portrayed mostly as a mother and creator, but can sometimes be relayed as a spirit helping the Cherokee tribesmen late after her death. Every year, according to Cherokee lore, she would grant the tribe corn and a good harvest while blessing mothers with healthy children. In one tale “The Corn Women” by Katharine B. Judson, she helps a hunter in having a successful hunt. Selu takes the form of dreams and then soon after a cornstalk. He does not know it is her embodiment that allows him to have a generous hunt until after the matter. She revels herself for an instance and disappears. From then on the people he told knew it was her, wife of Kanati, which granted him such a sacred sign. Another lore tells of her and Kanati’s struggles with their sons (Ju...

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...he agriculturists, nurturers and leaders of the tribe. But, the men are not forgotten as her husband, Kanati, portrays. They love their families more than life itself and will spill any blood necessary for them. The Cherokee people have been telling Selu’s myths for many years and now I know why. She is surely a goddess, mother and leader.

Works Cited

Edmonds, Margot, and Ella E. Clark. Voices of the winds: native American legends. New York: Facts on File Publications, 1989. Print.
Krupat, Arnold. Representing Cherokee Dispossession. Studies in American Indian Literatures. 17:1 (2005): 16-41. Web. 25 April 2014.
Miles, Tiya. Cherokee Women (Book Review). Journal of Social History 33.4 (2000): 1022. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 April 2014.
Perdue, Theda. Cherokee women: gender and culture change, 1700-1835. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. Print.

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