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Women of 1000

New Illustration: The Herder of Amocha

Published about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Recommended listening: Añil: Canciones de Origen Mapuche - Beatriz Pichi Malen​

The Herder of Amocha

In the far west of Lafken Mapu, the Mapuche land of the sea, there is an island where souls go to be reborn. If the celestial old woman Trempülkawe judges a soul worthy, she transforms into a whale and swims it over to this island, called Amocha. But who were the living people of Amocha a thousand years ago? Mapuche farmers were settling permanently on the island for the first time, clearing forests for agriculture and building a sacred mound dedicated to their ancestors. Amidst all this change, a young girl works on bonding with her guanaco herd, domesticating them into the breed known as chilihueques.

In other Women of 1000 news...

Queer History Book Kickstarter

The Kickstarter for the queer history art book I'm in, We've Always Been Here, was fully funded! I'm one of the artists featured in this multicultural LGBTQ+ art book. If you pledged in support of the book, THANK YOU! I'm looking forward to getting my copy soon!

Corrections Coming to Mwana Mkisi Page

I was recently contacted by Aisha Kibwana, a historical researcher based in Mombasa in Kenya. If you don't recall, that's where an early Women of 1000 illustration is set, featuring the legendary queen Mwana Mkisi. Aisha let me know about some errors I had made in characterizing the ethnohistory of Mombasa in my write-up here. I am not surprised to find out that I made mistakes here; I've also covered this illustration on my Bloopers page because I got the architecture COMPLETELY wrong! Stay tuned for an update where I incorporate the information Aisha shared with me.

Traditional Song Forum Conference

Last month I attended the Traditional Song Forum's spring conference on Women in Folk Song in Manchester. My paper was based on my PhD research about music among herring gutters in the Scottish fishing industry of the 19th and 20th centuries. At the link below, you can watch my talk about herring gutters and the transmission of "The Ball o Kirriemuir," an infamous bawdy Scots song.

Coming Up Next

I'm revisiting the wife of Joseph Rabban, whose story I researched extensively last year. Stay tuned to learn more about the history of the Jewish community in Kerala, India, and how local women were essential to building Indian Ocean trade networks there.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!

Women of 1000

HI, I'm Meg! I'm the artist and researcher behind Women of 1000. When you subscribe to my newsletter, you will get stories in your inbox around once a month about women who lived in the year 1000, each one highlighted by an original illustration.

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