Selu territory
Source: National Atlas (US Geological Survey)
For the week while we explore Southwestern Virginia, we will be based at Selu. We will take advantage of the dormitory, with meeting space and kitchen - and a great vista eastward across the Little River valley towards the Blue Ridge. The conference center/environmental education site has been in use for about a decade.
The 380 acres of land at Selu was donated to Radford University, but operations and maintenance still involve some expense. The university is struggling to pay all of its bills, and rates were increased in 2008 in hopes of making Selu a break-even operation.
Selu was, according to Cherokee tradition, the Corn Mother. She produced corn and beans from her body by scratching a thigh, rubbing her belly/armpits, or by other similar means depending upon who told the tale. Supposedly her son (or grandson) and another child discovered her secret and killed her, but not before she told them to bury the body in a certain way so corn would grow at that site. The Selu story tells far more than the origin of maize. Like the tale of Greek myth of Demeter (or Ceres, if you prefer the Roman version and want to relate to “cereal”), the goddess of grain, the tale addresses death and renewal, fertility, and accountability.
Today we transmit our culture to others through TV and music rather than parables, but imagine how your imagination would grow and the tales you could tell if you were a parent raising children without electricity… You might even explain where the water comes from, where it goes… you know, Geography 101. How many sophisticated citizens of the current era can do that?
For more background, read: