We emerge from the womb and blessed by light and nourished by family around us. We grow and mature. Hopi live with corn as their mainstay of their diet. As adults we will create the seeds of the next generation and will eventually die and be replaced by our offspring. For Hopi, death becomes part of the cycle and they will become katsina spirit essences and the clouds that bring rain to the Hopi people.
Corn goes through the same cycle.
It begins as a seed and forms the main support and nourishment for Hopi people. As the plant dies, it provides the seeds for the next generation. The women in Hopi society hold corn seeds just as women bear the seeds of life. Women own the land that is where the corn will grow. Men prayerfully plant the seeds and tend for its growth.