Creation

The Mayan creation story is contained in their sacred book, the Popol Vuh. According to the Mayans, after the gods created the earth and the animals, they wanted the animals to worship the gods. The animals wouldn't cooperate, so the gods looked for another alternative. First, they created people out of mud, but this did not work well, because the people crumbled and dissolved in the rain. Second, they tried to create people out of wood, but these beings had no soul and did not remember their creators. So the gods created a great flood to destroy the people. Those who survived became monkeys.

Finally, the gods took corn and ground it into masa, or corn dough, and made people the way they are today. Because of this corn is sacred to the Mayan people, it is both what they eat on a daily basis, and what they are made from. Mayans today often point to the color of corn, which can be red, yellow, white, or black, and relate these colors to the many colors of skin of people around the world. Traditionally, white corn was used to make the bones, yellow the flesh, red the blood, and black the hair and eyes.

Corn is used today to make many kinds of foods in Mexico and Central America. Tortillas, are the bread eaten every day usually with beans. Tamales are a festival food made with masa and other ingredients boiled in cornhusks or banana leaves. There are even drinks, such as atole, a hot drink which taste a bit like sweetened creamed corn. Corn is an essential staple food that many people in Mexico and Central America cannot imagine a meal that does not have at least one item made of corn!

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