Myths Around The World

Ceram

In mythical times a god named Ameta went hunting. He found a wild boar that had a coconut speared on one of its tusks.

Ameta had never seen a coconut before. He took it home and hid it safely in his hut.

That night Ameta had a dream; a man came to him and told him to plant the coconut. The next morning Ameta did as he was told.

After three days a magnificent plant appeared with large white blossoms.

Ameta climbed up to cut some flowers and as he did, he accidentally cut his finger. His blood dripped on one of the flowers.

Nine days later Ameta found a baby girl in the flower. He wrapped her in coconut leaves and took her home.

Ameta named her Hainuwele, which means coconut branch.

Within three days the baby girl grew into a young woman.

Hainuwele had a special gift; she could produce marvelous objects made of precious materials from nothing. Her father often sold these at the market.

One night there was big festival in town. Hainuwele went to the dance and brought gifts for the people: jewelry, plates, gongs and knives.

The dance lasted nine days and nine nights. Every day, Hainuwele brought more precious objects to the people; including coral necklaces and fine pottery.

The people were immediately jealous of Hainuwele, who was obviously wealthy.

On the last night, a group of male dancers threw Hainuwele into a great hole. They filled it with earth and danced on top of it.

When Ameta discovered that Hainuwele had been killed, he was furious. He dug up her body, cut it into pieces and buried it in several places, except for her arms.

Plants started to grow where Hainuwele's body parts were buried. These plants were new to the world; most of them were tubers, which became the main source of food for people.

Ameta took Hainuwele's arms to the goddess Satene and explained what had happened. Satene announced to her people that because of this terrible act, she would leave them.

She made the arms into a gateway through which all her people had to pass.

When the people passed through the gate some remained human beings while those with evil hearts changed into animals such as pigs, birds and fish. Others changed into spirits.

Satene traveled to the Mountain of the Dead, where she became queen. Only the dead could see her after that.