Blue
Corn Maiden was the prettiest of the corn maiden sisters. The Pueblo
People loved her very much, and loved the delicious blue corn that
she gave them all year long. Not only was Blue Corn Maiden beautiful,
but she also had a kind and gentle spirit. She brought peace and
happiness to the People of the Pueblos.
One cold winter day, Blue Corn Maiden went out to gather firewood.
This was something she would not normally do. While she was out
of her adobe house, she saw Winter Katsina. Winter Katsina is the
spirit who brings the winter to the earth. He wore his blue and-white
mask and blew cold wind with his breath. But when Winter Katsina
saw Blue Corn Maiden, he loved her at once.
He invited her to come to his house, and she had to go with
him. Inside his house, he blocked the windows with ice and the doorway
with snow and made Blue Corn Maiden his prisoner. Although Winter
Katsina was very kind to Blue Corn Maiden and loved her very much,
she was sad living with him. She wanted to go back to her own house
and make the blue corn grow for the People of the Pueblos.
Winter Katsina went out one day to do his duties, and blow cold
wind upon the earth and scatter snow over the mesas and valleys.
While he was gone, Blue Corn Maiden pushed the snow away from the
doorway, and went out of the house to look for the plants and foods
she loved to find in summer. Under all the ice and snow, all she
found was four blades of yucca.
She took the yucca back to Winter Katsina's house and started
a fire. Winter Katsina would not allow her to start a fire when
he was in the house.
When the fire was started, the snow in the doorway fell away
and in walked Summer Katsina. Summer Katsina carried in one hand
fresh corn and in the other many blades of yucca. He came toward
his friend Blue Corn Maiden.
Just then, Winter Katsina stormed through the doorway followed
by a roar of winter wind. Winter Katsina carried an icicle in his
right hand, which he held like a flint knife, and a ball of ice
in his left hand, which he wielded like a hand-ax. It looked like
Winter Katsina intended to fight with Summer Katsina.
As Winter Katsina blew a blast of cold air, Summer Katsina blew
a warm breeze. When Winter Katsina raised his icicle-knife, Summer
Katsina raised his bundle of yucca leaves, and they caught fire.
The fire melted the icicle.
Winter Katsina saw that he needed to make peace with Summer
Katsina, not war. The two sat and talked.
They agreed that Blue Corn Maiden would live among the People
of the Pueblos and give them her blue corn 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 and the People would
have no corn.
Blue Corn Maiden went away with Summer Katsina, and he was kind
to her. She became the sign of springtime, eagerly awaited by the
People.
Sometimes, when spring has come already, Winter Katsina will
blow cold wind suddenly, or scatter snow when it is not the snow
time. He does this just to show how displeased he is to have to
give up Blue Corn Maiden for half of the year.
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