Mondamin (deity)
Mondamin (or Mandaamin) is an Anishinaabe or Miami maize deity.[1]
In traditional Native American/First Nations' legend, he is believed to have given humans the maize by turning into a maize field after being defeated.
Some of his comparative fame was justified by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem The Song of Hiawatha, where Mondamin appears as maize personified.
A crater on the dwarf world Ceres is named for the deity.
Trivia
In Germany, the name Mondamin almost exclusively denotes a (now Unilever-held) brand of cornstarch-based convenience products. In 1913, Mondamin GmbH had chosen its company name especially in order to hint at the Hiawatha lore, the brand itself dating back to 1896.[2]
References
- ^ Patricia Turner, Charles Russell Coulter, Dictionary of Ancient Deities p.327
- ^ Mondamin brand website: corporate history page (German)