People of Corn, Mayan Story

A long time ago in the highlands of Guatemala, there lived people called Mayan. The Mayan people grew corn. In the fall, at the end of the harvest time, they would carry the corn back to the villages in a very festive way with fireworks sending messages of gratitude to the heavens. Then the Mayan people would use the corn to make different meals. The kids were always amazed how many delicious meals you could make out of corn. “What’s this?” would ask a little Mayan girl. “That’s tortillas” would answer one of the moms. “What’s that?” would ask another little Mayan girl. “That’s tacos” would answer another mom. And the questions would go on.

The corn to Mayan people was not only an ingredient to make a meal, it was also something sacred. They believed that the first people on earth were made out of corn. The kids were never growing tired of listening to the same story. And this is what the mothers would tell them:

“There were two gods, who wanted to create life. First they created mountains and oceans.” “But how the little kids got there?” would ask a little Mayan boy. “The little kids came later” would answer Mayan mother and she would continue “After mountains and oceans, the gods created animals, which lived in the forests and seas. But gods wanted to be thanked for their work and since animals don’t speak, they created people.” “I thought these were wooden creatures” would say another Mayan boy. “Yes” answered a Mayan mother “The first people were wooden and they could speak. They were very good workers, but they didn’t have hearts. And without a heart, they didn’t know how to thank gods for so many creations on earth. So this time, the gods mixed corn flour with water and with their hands one of them created a mother and the other one created a father of the Mayan people.” “So how the little kids got there?” insisted the same boy. “We’re almost there” answered the mother. “So out of the first mother and father came the first little Mayan kids. When they grew up they had their own kids. So the people of corn were multiplying as corn in the fields. The gods were very happy with their new creation. The people made out of corn were as good as animals, because they could climb the mountains and swim the oceans. And they were as good as the wooden people, because they were good workers and they spoke, too. But unlike the animals and the wooden people, the people of corn had hearts and they could thank the gods. They built pyramids, made sacred processions and passed their story of creation to their kids. And that made gods very happy.” Now the little boy was content, except he wanted to hear more, but that was the end of the story. So the mother would add “You know the colorful cloths that mothers weave for you kids.” “Yes” said the boy. “The women of corn spent so much time weaving those beautiful cloths and they put so much heart into them that during the night, when they dreamed, they saw all those colorful cloths stretching for miles. Like there was no end to them” and the mother finished by saying “And that is the end of the story.” “Ohhhhhhhh” said the Mayan kids.