Week 3 Topic Research: Mammy-Bammy-Big-Money

It was hard to choose but based on the feedback I got, I'm going with Mammy-Bammy-Big-Money the Witch-Rabbit as the way to do my Storybook project for class. This will be a way to surprise people (I'm guessing most people have not heard about this part of the Brer Rabbit tradition), and it's a good way to acknowledge African origins (Brer Rabbit is not a magical trickster himself, but Mammy-Bammy has conjure powers), plus it's a self-limiting topic, which is also good. Narrowing down stories is hard, but there are not that many Mammy-Bammy-Big-Money stories. Here is what I have to work with:

Brer Rabbit and the Witch-Rabbit. This is an essential African story type, "Rabbit seeks endowments." In terms of African origins, this is a fantastic story to have. (Note also that Brer Rabbit goes to a conjure-man for a love charm in one of Daddy Jack's stories.)

(illustration by Milo Winter)

Brother Rabbit and His Famous Foot. This is the story about how Brer Wolf steals Brer Rabbit's lucky rabbit's foot (which will be an excuse to talk about the rabbit-foot tradition in general, and also conjure-bags, etc.)

(illustration by J. A. Shepherd)

Brer Wolf and the Witch-Rabbit. This shows Mammy-Bammy in action outside of her remote home in the swamp, and it's a direct follow-up to the story about the Wolf and the rabbit's foot.

(illustration by J. A. Shepherd)

Taily-Po. I am excited about getting to include this story! It's one that Baer did not do a good job with in her notes, so I will do some research to fill in the gaps in her commentary.

(illustration by A. B. Frost)

I might also find a way to use the Aunt Nancy story: there the supernatural female is a danger, someone that Brer Rabbit wisely avoids. Maybe I can make her a sister to Mammy-Bammy or something like that, weaving that character into the other stories somehow.

I'm also thinking I would like for Mammy-Bammy to be connected to the magical bird who saves the little rabbits, although I'm not sure I can make that work. That is a really unusual story with strong supernatural elements, not otherwise explained. Anyway, it's something to think about.

There are two other stories where Brer Rabbit references Mammy-Bammy and how she is a source of knowledge for him (although in both cases, he could be totally lying of course ha ha):
Lion and Rabbit: After lion gets scalded, he goes to her for advice and claims that she told him a fox hide was required.
Gold Mine: Rabbit claims Mammy-Bammy told his grandfather there was a gold mine near Brer Bear's house.

Note also the story that mentions graveyard-rabbits, and I have other sources for this belief in the power of graveyard-rabbits.

(illustration by A. T. Elwes)

I didn't find much else from poking around in JSTOR or Google, except that it looks like there is a Disney version (Golden Book) of the story of Brer Rabbit's visit to the Witch-Rabbit after Brer Wolf steals his rabbit's-foot. That really surprised me; I didn't figure that Disney would be interested in the magic side of Brer Rabbit. So, I wasn't planning on reading the Disney Golden Book of Brer Rabbit stories, but I went ahead and ordered a copy. It wasn't as cheap as used books usually are, and it's kind of depressing how people have made "Song of the South" a kind of right-wing cause célèbre, but whatever: I bought the book, despite the noxious comment from the bookseller about how the "Thought Police" are trying to keep people from reading Disney's Brer Rabbit. Sigh.

Reading that kind of ignorant comment in defense of Disney just makes me all the more determined to publish a really good Brer Rabbit resource book as OER for anyone who wants to read and learn about this African American storytelling tradition... not a Disney product.

Through the Google search, I learned that she is a Magic: Gathering card! Now I'm wondering if that graphic doesn't come from the Disney version of the story in the Golden Book; I'll find out when the book arrives next week!