The Children of the Corn… Literally.

I remember in my class my professor had made a mention that the people of Mexico can be seen as “the children of the corn,” and this was because the indigenous societies of Mexico thrived on what corn provided for them which was making tortillas. This practice of using Cal to mix into the corn to create massa, and finally tortillas, has been essential for civilization to exist in Mexico. When reading into Jeffery M. Pilcher’s book, Planet Taco, this saying that the Mexican people are “children of the corn” actually has significance when looking into the Popol Vuh.

Here, the Quiché Mayans have this narrative of how their people were created. From the goddess, Xmucane, she molded the Mayan people from the corn massa itself and from this came to life of the Mayans. This, in a way, sounds poetic given the personal and intimate nature that these indigenous people had with corn. And for so many generations into the modern age, the practice of making corn massa and tortillas is a continuous one which makes reading this excerpt really interesting. The saying that the Mexican people are “the children of the corn” could not have been much clearer with this story of creation.