The Star-Woman is the celestial bride of a widely told Xavante sky legend. A warrior gazing at a star that blinks unlike the others falls asleep, and the star descends as a lovely young woman to rouse him with tenderness; she points to a buriti palm that grows upward until, seated on its fronds, the two rise to her home among the gardens of the sky, where they live happily. The Xavante hold the stars to be the eyes of enchanted people who watch the earth each night. The motif belongs to the widespread Jê type of the star-wife who links earth and sky; among the neighbouring Timbira the equivalent figure brings cultivated plants to humankind, whereas the Xavante account the origin of maize separately, through women who follow a parakeet to the first corn.