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.

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

1. ^ Patricia Turner, Charles Russell Coulter, Dictionary of Ancient Deities p.327
2. ^ Mondamin brand website: corporate history page (German)