E1D — Clay boats.

(The first) boat is made of obviously unsuitable material.

Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture

This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 6, Origin and interpretation of culture elements, in particular related to agriculture, inadequate forms of subsistence and economic activity before the establishment of the present norms.

E1.  The first human being was created, made by a certain character, and did not exist initially (on earth, underground, in the sky, in a small container) and did not arise spontaneously. Only variants that specify the material from which humans were created, or that refer separately to the creation of the human figure and its ensoulment, rather than simply to the fact of "creation" itself, are taken into account.
E1a.  The first humans are made of fragile materials (clay, wax, fire, honey, etc.) and prove to be unviable.
E1a1.  A deity or ancestor moulds people from clay. Some of the figures got wet, which is why there are cripples among people.
E1b.  A character made of unsuitable material and turns out to be short-lived or poorly suited to performing his functions.
E1b1.  A man who has married an unusual girl is warned that she must not perform certain tasks or eat certain foods. Other members of his household ensure that the young woman breaks the prohibition, and as a result she dies or disappears.
E1c.  Man made from human excrement or (Inupiat) from carrion.
E1d.  (The first) boat is made of obviously unsuitable material.
E1e.  The son of the first human couple initially takes the form of a small plant that has grown from the ground, a stalk.

This motif has been recorded in 9 traditions: Early Chinese written sources, Southern and Central; Ryukyu Islands: Yaeyama, Miyako, Okinawa, Chugach, Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), Nootka (Nu-chah-nulth), Makah, Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Japan