The Blue Corn Maiden
A Hopi Legend
The Blue Corn Maiden is said to be the most beautiful of the corn maiden sisters. The people loved her very much and they loved the blue corn that she brought to them all year long. Because of this, they felt peace and happiness when she was amongst them.
Hopi Blue Corn
One cold winter morning, the Blue Corn Maiden went to gather firewood. This wasn’t a typical chore but she wanted to be helpful. She was outside of her house, when she saw Winter Katsina. Winter Katsina is the spirit whose breath creates the cold wind. He brings winter to earth wearing a blue and white mask. When he saw the Blue Corn Maiden, he fell in love.
Winter Katsina told the Blue Corn Maiden that she must go to his house. There, he blocked the windows with ice and the doorway with snow and he took her as his prisoner. Even though, Winter Katsina loved her and treated her well, she was sad. She missed her home and wanted to make blue corn grow for the People of the Pueblos.
One day, Winter Katsina went out to to scatter snow on the mesas. While he was away, Blue Corn Maiden pushed the snow from the door and went to look for the plants she loved to find in summer. Beneath the snow, all she could find was four blades of yucca.
She took the yucca to Winter Katsina’s house and made a fire. Once the fire was started, snow in the doorway melted away and in walked Summer Katsina. Summer Katsina had fresh corn in one hand and blades of yucca in the other. He walked toward the Blue Corn Maiden.
At that moment, Winter Katsina blew winter wind through the doorway. He held an icicle in his hand like a flint knife, and a ball of ice in the other. As Winter Katsina blew cold wind, Summer Katsina blew warm breeze. When Winter Katsina raised an icicle knife, Summer Katsina raised burning yucca leaves to melt the icicle. Winter Katsina saw that he must make peace with Summer Katsina.
The Winter and Summer Katsinas agreed that Blue Corn Maiden would live among the People of the Pueblos for half of the year, in the time of Summer Katsina. The other half of the year, Blue Corn Maiden would live with Winter Katsina.Blue Corn Maiden left with Summer Katsina, and she became the sign of springtime, eagerly awaited by the People of the Pueblos.
There are still times when after spring has come, Winter Katsina will blow cold wind and scatter snow. This is simply to show that he is angry for having to share Blue Corn Maiden for half of the year.
Blue Corn
Blue corn is an essential part of Hopi culture. The Hopi use blue corn in ceremonies naming their infants and believe it represents a long life. Hopi men ate it before long journeys and to this day, they believe in its power.
The Hopi have a reputation as superior dryland farmers. Their conservation is reflected in their crops – most notably in blue corn. Blue corn has several advantages over other corn. It contains 20% more protein and a lower glycemic index. When used for tortillas, blue corn produces a sweeter, nuttier taste.
Hopi Blue Corn Hotcakes
-
1 cup of blue corn meal
- 1 Tbs. sugar
- 1 Tbs. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 Tbs. olive oil
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cup milk (I use 1%)
Agrigirl's Blog 
Rukmini Roy
/ March 21, 2013Love the story. Its so much fun to remember veggies when there is a story like that backing it. In my country, we have a story about pumpkins 🙂 Makes me want to blog about it.
Tammy
/ March 22, 2013I will look forward to your post Rukmini.
montucky
/ March 21, 2013I hadn’t heard that story and I really like it!
Tammy
/ March 22, 2013There was a Hopi festival here recently and I was able to purchase a katsina of an artist whom I have followed. That caused me to do some research and I was so happy when I found the story.
cindyricksgers
/ March 22, 2013I love this story! Perfect for this time of year, too, as winter and summer seem to be battling. Thank you, Tammy!
Tammy
/ March 22, 2013They are battling, aren’t they Cindy? I see it in the weather news all around – but not here.
Lynn
/ March 22, 2013I didn’t know blue corn those acts about blue corn. Know wonder I like it better than yellow. 😉 I also enjoyed the Hopi story of spring. ‘Ve never heard that before – thanks for sharing!
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013It has a nuttier taste than regular corn.
lucindalines
/ March 22, 2013The compromise in the story reminds me of a Greek myth that I think is Hades and Persephone, but I will have to double check. It has been so long since I taught it. I love this story. I think it is important for all of American youth to learn those stories.
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013You’re right. We should learn these legends.
Carrie @ Season It Already!
/ March 22, 2013I love blue corn! And what a wonderful story.
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013I do too Carrie and I’m trying to decide how much of my “like” is because it is blue and how much is due to taste.
Carrie @ Season It Already!
/ March 24, 2013Good point. Since blue is my favorite color, I bet that has something to do with it for me, too. 😉
Lisa H
/ March 22, 2013What a beautiful story! I absolutely love blue corn pancakes! Thanks for sharing.
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013I found some great blue corn flour at Native Seed Search.
Promenade Claire
/ March 22, 2013Like others I’ve truly enjoyed the story. I’ve never seen or tried Blue Corn, I wonder what it’s taste is like?
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013It’s grown here where we live so not uncommon. It is nuttier than regular corn.
Inger Wilkerson
/ March 22, 2013Up in Wisconsin, it looks like we may have to stage another raid to get the Blue Corn maiden back this year…
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013I’ve heard that from a few folks in the far North and East.
nrhatch
/ March 22, 2013Love this, Tammy. Wonderful tale . . . well told. 😀
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013It’s challenging to retell a legend without losing the integrity of the story and while not copying it.
Kirsten@FarmFreshFeasts
/ March 22, 2013Tammy,
What a wonderful story, thank you for your research as well as your recipe.
I don’t know where I’ve seen it for sale around here, but I’ll keep an eye out.
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013It may be more of a specialty item where you live. We’re fortunate that it’s such an important crop here.
croquecamille
/ March 22, 2013The story reminds me a little of the Greek myth about Persephone. 🙂 I love blue corn, and wish it were easier to find products made with it here. Your hotcakes sound delicious!
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013Clearly not up on my Greek mythology! Maybe we set up an export to Paris?
croquecamille
/ March 24, 2013Heh. All those food miles, though… probably better I enjoy what I have here and wait until I’m back in the States for the blue corn. 🙂
Meg
/ March 22, 2013What a great story! I would like to try making blue corn tortillas! I haven’t seen any blue masa harina around here though. I am on a mission now!
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013I have had blue tortillas but mainly in chips.
yummychunklet
/ March 22, 2013Never had blue corn, but I’ve had the blue corn chips!
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013Me too. I like them.
Sheree
/ March 22, 2013I hadn’t heard that story. Lovely. Would love to grow blue corn on the farm. Perhaps I’ll try it this year.
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013It would be interesting to see what the effect is in a more humid climate.
Debbie
/ March 22, 2013Thank you for sharing more info about blue corn! I always learn good things from you!
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013Do you ever see it where you live Debbie?
Tandy
/ March 22, 2013Thank you for sharing this myth with us. It is such a lovely story 🙂
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013You are welcome.
Laal
/ March 23, 2013Thanks for the story!
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013It’s a pleasure to have learned it and to retell it.
Sophie33
/ March 24, 2013I have never come across blue corn before in Belgium! Will check it out! A lovely post with a tasty recipe too!
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013Well, like Camille in Paris, perhaps we’ll have to begin to export?
kateshrewsday
/ March 24, 2013My kind of post, Tammy. What an enchanting tale. I love the idea, instantly, of Winter Katsina and Summer Katsina. You have enriched my day today: thank you.
Tammy
/ March 27, 2013Most welcome Kate. I believe there are parallel tales in other mythologies but this one suits our current location best.
Hannah
/ March 24, 2013On the one hand, I love this story, and all such stories, for showing us how cultures throughout time have created mythologies through which to explain the world.
On the other, in the wake of the recent discussions surrounding perceptions and treatment of women, spurred by the Steubenville horror, and my own feminist inclinations, my hackles rise and I want to ask “What about the Blue Corn Maiden’s agency, huh? What does SHE want?”
I think it’s probably best I just focus on the deliciousness of your food. Mmm, blue corn anything.
Tammy
/ March 24, 2013Love it Hannah. Perhaps I will use your ire to inspire a new recipe – blue corn woman comeback!
Hannah
/ March 24, 2013Oh, I’m so glad I didn’t seem out of line! Got a bit carried away…
Estrella Azul
/ March 25, 2013That sounds good! I never cooked blue corn before, only had small ones decorate my centerpieces 🙂
Tammy
/ March 27, 2013They do make a beautiful centerpiece, don’t they Estrella?
Estrella Azul
/ March 28, 2013Oh yes, especially the tiny ones – so cute! 🙂
Nathalie
/ March 25, 2013What a lovely story! I love how food comes with its own history and mythology. Such importance should be placed on our food! Corn is rare where I am now (UAE) but will definitely try these when I’m back home for the summer! Thanks for a great story and a great recipe!
Tammy
/ March 27, 2013Food stories and histories are important to remember. They enable us to connect with one another and our past.
pearlz
/ March 25, 2013I love this story, wrote a poem inspired by it
Tammy
/ March 27, 2013Where can I read it June?
nancy at good food matters
/ March 26, 2013HI Tammy–thank you for sharing this Hopi legend; I enjoyed learning the story. Fitting for this late March/early spring day, where winter is still hanging on.(Snow today!)
I love the taste of blue cornflour. Some farmers in North Carolina have been cultivating it, and a local Nashville chef sources it from them for a few of his dishes.
Tammy
/ March 27, 2013Oh terrific. I didn’t know if the moisture would be an issue since it is such a dry land crop. As I told Carrie above, I don’t know if I really love the taste more or if I just like the “blue”.
Kath
/ March 27, 2013What a beautiful legend!! And a beautiful corn cob! 😀
Tammy
/ March 27, 2013Thanks Kath. This corn cob in particular sits in my kitchen. It is from the final crop of one of my Hopi friends’ father before he passed – really really special.
Kath
/ March 28, 2013That’s amazing! 😀
typewriter poetry
/ March 27, 2013Glad mythical tales like this continue to be shared and passed around. What a great accompaniment to the blue corn recipe and picture. (Although I too was curious about the female personification’s lack of authority!)
Tammy
/ March 27, 2013I hear you. I hadn’t really thought of it until Hannah pointed it out so I really must give myself a writing assignment to improve upon that!
typewriter poetry
/ March 27, 2013You know, I just assumed the original story included those elements and that it was part of your honest & true interpretation of the tale. Amazing how language can steer us! 🙂
Tammy
/ March 28, 2013Oh, it is part of the original! My next assignment is to modernize it!
isathreadsoflife
/ March 28, 2013I had never heard of blue corn and I love the legend you shared with us. Thank you Tammy.
Tammy
/ March 30, 2013The climate is so different where you live than it is on the Hopi reservation – that is probably why.
Christine
/ March 29, 2013Hi Tammy – love the story, and the recipe. Here in northwestern Ontario, Canada, we have are excited about a special squash that Winona LaDuke brought with her when she visited our community last year. The Anishinaabe name means “really cool old squash” and the squash seeds were originally found during an archeological dig in Wisconsin, preserved in a dried clay ball; they were carbon dated at 800 years old. Winona was gifted with some of the seeds, and grew them at her home on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. She brought us one of the “really cool old squash” from her garden, and we have preserved the seeds (there were a few hundred of them), and will share them with whoever is interested. This year will be the first year that we attempt to grow them, but the “local foods” gardeners in our Transition Town group, and our indigenous partners, are very very excited about the opportunity we’ve been given.
Tammy
/ March 30, 2013That’s a cool story Christine. The whole notion of seed saving is a cause that me and my family support. It’s through blessings like Winona’s that we are able to retrieve some of those heritage crops.
Kathy
/ March 30, 2013I’m not sure we can get blue corn at our local co-op. But have always loved it when sampling it at restaurants. Thanks, Tammy, for sharing the story of the Blue Corn Maiden.
Tammy
/ March 31, 2013I am jealous that you have a local coop.
Candace
/ March 31, 2013That’s a lovely story.
Tammy
/ April 3, 2013Thank you Candace.
naimavanswol
/ April 1, 2013What a cool story!
Tammy
/ April 3, 2013Hey, good to see you. I’m sure you’re ready for some summer katsina!
Jean
/ April 18, 2013Learned something new. I have never tasted cooked blue corn in its naked state.
Tammy
/ April 19, 2013You’d love it.
Sunshine Goldsberry
/ April 30, 2013Someone at a “Seedy Saturday” gave me a few Hopi Blue corn kernals some years ago. I rather carefully saved a wide variety of seed kernals from the next few years’ plants and can only say I am amazed by the robustness of this variety. We could feed whole communities now. Vancouver Island is considered to have rainforest climate but in summer it is cool and dry, perfect for this little workhorse corn. And so tasty. Today it was corn chowder for lunch. (We save it young and off the cob in the freezer for year around eating)