Shelby's Stories
Corn eludes understanding. No one really knows from where it originally came. Geneticists today study it and just recently have learned more about its origin. Because corn is so mysterious, most Native People throughout the Americas have corn stories. Many can be found on the Internet just by creating an internet search using the keywords "corn stories." The following story comes from the People in South Texas in the Trans-Pecos region. They are known as the Huichols.
Starvation near, an old woman and her boy traveled for miles over rocks and desert to beg Creator for food.
The Creator said that he would consider the problem and consult with his family. In the meantime, he took pity on them and gave them a small bowl of corn. They were to come back in five days and he would decide what to do. They thanked him. They hungrily shoved the all corn into their hungry mouths. When they looked into the bowl, there was even more. The bowl had replenished itself! The old woman and boy waited for five days and returned to the Creator. Again they were told to go away and return in five days time.
The Creator had five daughters, White Corn Girl, Yellow Corn Girl, Red Corn Girl, Mixed Corn Girl and Blue Corn Girl. Like all gods and goddesses you might imagine, they never lifted a finger to do anything. He asked one of his five to volunteer to go home with the old woman and boy. At first all refused. Finally, Blue Corn Girl relented and left to teach the people how to grow corn. As the new family walked away, Creator warned the boy and his mother that Blue Corn Girl was to be treated well and cared for. She was to live in the style to which she was accustomed and never made to do work.
Blue Corn Girl had a caring and glowing radiance like no other the young boy had ever met. He felt a warmth when he looked at her that drew him to her immediately. Soon they fell in love and he took her for his wife. He built a small corn house for them to live in and life became easy for the family. Blue Corn Girl taught the boy how to prepare the soil for planting corn. The boy did as she said and they waited for the harvest. Blue Corn's brother came to check on his sister each night and each night corn rained down inside the house. The little family had more than enough to eat and after five days the house was full.
Every day the boy would go to work on the farm and leave his mother to do the household chores. His mother resented Blue Corn Girl's freedom and her smooth skin, shiny, jet-black hair and girlish figure. The old woman became jealous. Her envy grew into anger and one day she railed against 
Blue Corn Girl and her easy life. Blue Corn Girl, eager to please and out of respect for her mother-in-law, began to help grind corn. She gathered a handful of corn and placed it on the stone metate. Her soft hands wrapped around the smooth worn stone and she began to grind; back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And the stone began to do its work. Blue Corn Girl's fingertips began to scrape the rough metate and began to bleed. Next her knuckles grate against the coarse stone. By the time the young man returned from the fields that day, the sight that met his eyes horrified him. Nothing was left of Blue Corn Girl's hands. Her forearms were nothing but bloody ribbons shredded to the elbow. You see, the Girl had begun to grind herself. When Creator discovered what had happened to his beloved daughter, he was livid. He took Blue Corn Girl back to live safely with him. This devastated the young boy. He loved her very much and begged and pleaded with Creator to let her come back.
Finally Creator relented and let her return. But now the rules had changed. The work in the field was very difficult. The ground had become hardened by the anger of Creator. The boy had to clear the field carefully, preparing the earth to receive his offering. Blue Corn Girl showed him how to make a hole with the digging stick; how to place the seed into the hole and fertilize it; and how to cover it with the earth. The family had to pray for rain to come and give sustenance to the growing ears. And if rain didn't come, water had to be carried, Weeds had to be pulled and the fields maintained.
And so it is today. The Huichol people survive with great difficulty. No longer living in the Garden of Eden, the Chihuahuan Desert with its limestone rocks and cactus makes for an arduous life journey. And it is said that it is because of the way the People treated Blue Corn Girl when the Earth was still new.
Story List
Lizard and Fireflies
Lazy Jack
The Singing Pine Tree
Blue Corn Girl
Starfish
CHECK IT OUT!
Youth Storytelling Opportunities!
TSA Festival
March 26-29, 2009
Denton, TX
Student Work
Check out the results of Storytelling with Shelby shown in the students' great work!