Hainuwele the Coconut Girl

In this story we hear where root vegetables (tubars) and root spices came from and how people with good and evil hearts are separated.

The god Ameta finds a coconut one day, he plants it and a lovely girl Hainuwele (coconut girl) grows from the ground. She has the amazing gift of being able to poo precious items. This instills jealousy amongst the villagers who decide to get rid of Hainuwele. She becomes the root of all root plants and spices and her leaves are made into a guilt gate and with the help of the goddess Satene anyone with a dark heart is turned into an animal and if they are particularly evil they are turned into goblins.

This story is from the Alifuru, Wemale and Alune people on the island of Ceram, located in the centre of the Muluka islands that are now part of Indonesia. They worship many gods, spirits and divine creatures.

Ameta who appears in this story, is the god who fathered Hainuwele (which means coconut girl) goddess of fertility. The other goddess who appears in this story is Satene - a goddess who became queen of the dead on the mountain of Salahua where people's souls went once they died.

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