Moketubbe's Mother

Display Name: 
Moketubbe's Mother
Sort Name: 
Unnamed Mother of Moketubbe
AKA: 
Issetibbeha's Wife
Race: 
Black
Gender: 
Female
Class: 
Enslaved Black
Rank: 
Minor
Vitality: 
Alive
Family: 
Issetibbeha|Ikkemotubbe
Family (new): 
Real?: 
No
Biography: 

"Moketubbe's mother" is introduced as a "comely girl" (320) whom Issetibbeha marries after seeing her at work in a melon patch. She is described as having "broad, solid thighs," a "sound back" and a "serene face" (321). Her race is not specified. Our identification of her as "Black" and "Enslaved" (rather than "Indian" and "Tribal Member") is based on her clothing (a "shift") and the fact that she is engaged in field labor, along with the way seeing her reminds Issetibbeha of his "own mother," with "her Negro blood" (321). But this is an interpretive choice - see the Note on Race in the Note on the Text.

Note: 
REPLACED: "Moketubbe's mother" is introduced as a "comely girl" (320) whom Issetibbeha marries after seeing her at work in a melon patch. She is described as having "broad, solid thighs," a "sound back" and a "serene face" (321). Her race is not specified. The fact that she wears a "shift" and is engaged in field labor may signify that she is one of the tribe's enslaved Negroes. Seeing this woman also reminds Issetibbeha of his "own mother," with "her Negro blood" - but the larger thought seems to define the two women by contrast: his "own mother" is a "city woman," associated with the airs of leisured gentility: "fans and laces," not melons and shifts (321). We identify this woman as Indian, but with the proviso that that is an interpretive choice.
Individual or Group: 
Individual
Character changes class in this text: 

digyok:node/character/2594