# The Old Grandmother — Zuni Folktales character guide

> The Old Grandmother in Zuni Folktales by Frank Hamilton Cushing.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the old Grandmother, The old grandmother, herself, myself

**First appearance:** 0001-zuni-folktales

## Snapshot

A cunning elder who paints her grandson's face like a demon and arms him with a magic axe to out-terrify a bear.

## Who they are

She is the grandmother whose house the boy runs to when the contest of frights demands more than human nerve. Far from a passive hearth-keeper, she blackens one side of his face with soot and the other with ashes, then hands him a stone axe of ancient power. Her quick, delighted readiness to help — 'All right, my son; I will help you!' — shows a woman who understands that wit and paint can beat brute strength, and she sets the tale's central trick in motion.

## In the story

### [The Maiden of the Yellow Rocks](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-maiden-of-the-yellow-rocks)

Grandmother of the twin gods, who receives them and the orphaned children at the end of the chapter.

### [The Boy Hunter Who Never Sacrificed to the Deer He Had Slain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-boy-hunter-who-never-sacrificed-to-the-deer-he-had-slain)

The grandmother of the Sun who sorts the shell beads and turquoises.

### [How Áhaiyúta and Mátsailéma Stole the Thunder-Stone and the Lightning-Shaft](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/how-haiy-ta-and-m-tsail-ma-stole-the-thunder-stone-and-the-lightning-shaft)

Grandmother of the War-gods who scolds them for their theft and is accidentally drowned when the boys' play floods the house; her heart becomes the first pepper plant.

### [The Warrior Suitor of Moki](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-warrior-suitor-of-moki)

Not directly mentioned; no elder grandmother figure appears in this chapter.

### [How the Corn-Pests Were Ensnared](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/how-the-corn-pests-were-ensnared)

The Coyote's grandmother, killed by him on the Owl's advice.

### [How the Rattlesnakes Came to Be What They Are](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/how-the-rattlesnakes-came-to-be-what-they-are)

The grandmother who also cries out and swoons, joining the transformation.

### [The Ugly Wild Boy Who Drove the Bear Away from Southeastern Mesa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-ugly-wild-boy-who-drove-the-bear-away-from-southeastern-mesa)

The boy's grandmother who warns him but later helps by painting his face and giving him a magic axe.

### [The Revenge of the Two Brothers on the Háwikuhkwe, or the Two Little Ones and Their Turkeys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/the-revenge-of-the-two-brothers-on-the-h-wikuhkwe-or-the-two-little-ones-and-their-turkeys)

Grandmother of the two brothers; advises them to seek help from their grandfathers and participates in the victory ceremony.

### [Átahsaia, the Cannibal Demon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/tahsaia-the-cannibal-demon)

Grandmother of the twins; is tricked into beating the stuffed demon effigy.

### [Italian Version](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/italian-version)

Provides rags in exchange for hairs.

### [Zuni Version](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/chapters/zuni-version)

The old woman who owns the Cock; she is poor and feeds him refuse.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/characters/old_grandmother
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/zuni_folktales_se/characters