| While some myths assert that she first came down to earth at [[Kudaka Island]] and then crossed over to [[Okinawa Island]] at [[Sefa utaki]] - hence these two sites being the most sacred sites on/near Okinawa - others relate the story of the creation of the world, then the islands, then the ''utaki'' and ''gusuku'', in a narrative progression moving from north to south. Legends in northern Okinawa assert that [[Asumui utaki]]<!--安須森御嶽-->, a sacred grove at the northern tip of Okinawa, [[Hedo no misaki]], was the first such sacred grove she created.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 152.</ref> Scholars such as [[Gregory Smits]] have tied this legendary southward progression to actual historical migration of peoples southward from the [[Amami Islands|more northerly islands]] into Okinawa, bringing with them cultural customs as well as technologies such as iron working and rice agriculture.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 125.</ref> Some have gone so far as to suggest that the name of the deity itself may derive from, or literally mean, "a person" or "people" from "Amami".<ref>The goddess is often called Amamichu in the [[Okinawan language]]; in that same language, a person from Amami would be called ''Amaminchu''. "[https://ryukyushimpo.jp/okinawa-dic/prentry-40119.html Amamikyo]," ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'', Ryukyu Shimpo, 2003.</ref> | | While some myths assert that she first came down to earth at [[Kudaka Island]] and then crossed over to [[Okinawa Island]] at [[Sefa utaki]] - hence these two sites being the most sacred sites on/near Okinawa - others relate the story of the creation of the world, then the islands, then the ''utaki'' and ''gusuku'', in a narrative progression moving from north to south. Legends in northern Okinawa assert that [[Asumui utaki]]<!--安須森御嶽-->, a sacred grove at the northern tip of Okinawa, [[Hedo no misaki]], was the first such sacred grove she created.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 152.</ref> Scholars such as [[Gregory Smits]] have tied this legendary southward progression to actual historical migration of peoples southward from the [[Amami Islands|more northerly islands]] into Okinawa, bringing with them cultural customs as well as technologies such as iron working and rice agriculture.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 125.</ref> Some have gone so far as to suggest that the name of the deity itself may derive from, or literally mean, "a person" or "people" from "Amami".<ref>The goddess is often called Amamichu in the [[Okinawan language]]; in that same language, a person from Amami would be called ''Amaminchu''. "[https://ryukyushimpo.jp/okinawa-dic/prentry-40119.html Amamikyo]," ''Okinawa Compact Encyclopedia'', Ryukyu Shimpo, 2003.</ref> |