| Hainuwele | |
|---|---|
Deity that gave origin to the main vegetable crops | |
 Hainuwele defecating valuable objects. | |
| Affiliation | Origin myths, Phosop |
| Abode | Seram |
| Symbol | Coconut flower |
| Mount | none |
| Parents | Ameta (Father) |
Hainuwele, "The Coconut Girl", is a figure from the Wemale and Alune folklore of the island of Seram in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. Her story is an origin myth.[1]
The myth of Hainuwele was recorded by German ethnologist Adolf E. Jensen following the Frobenius Institute's 1937–38 expedition to the Maluku Islands.[2] The study of this myth during his research on religious sacrifice led Jensen to the introduction of the concept of Dema Deity in ethnology.[3]
Joseph Campbell first narrated the Hainuwele legend to an English-speaking audience in his work The Masks of God.[4]
- ^ Leeming, David (6 June 2019). "Hainuwele". The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195156690.001.0001. ISBN 9780195156690 – via www.oxfordreference.com.
- ^ Jensen, Adolf E. and Herman Niggemeyer, Hainuwele; Völkserzählungen von der Molukken-Insel Ceram (Ergebnisse der Frobenius-Expedition vol. I), Frankfurt-am-Main 1939
- ^ "The study of religion(s) in Western Europe II - Michael Stausberg" (PDF).
- ^ Campbell, Joseph, The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology, 1959.