In Inca mythology, Mama Ocllo was deified as a mother and fertility goddess. In one legend she was a daughter of Inti and Mama Killa, in another the daughter of Viracocha and Mama Qucha. In all of them she was the older sister and wife of Manco Cápac, whom she established the city of Cusco with. In some variations, she bore him a son, Sinchi Roca, though all Incan rulers after Manco Cápac were believed to be their descendants. According to most stories, Mama Occlo and Manco Cápac were sent by Inti to help the Inca by expanding their knowledge after he saw how poorly they were living. After their creation, most legends state they began journeying to find the perfect location to begin their task, would know when they found it when the golden rod Inti had given both his children sunk into the ground. Once the rod had sunk, they began educating the Inca people. There are multiple variations in Mama Ocllo's origin. One common version involves Mama Ocllo emerging with Manco Cápac from an island or cave in Lake Titicaca after Inti created them, though in some alternate versions, the rest of their siblings, as well as ten ayllus, rise from the lake and they all journey together for a short time.

Some myths depict Mama Ocllo and Manco Cápac's place of origin to be from the Rock of Origins, a location described as sacred. Some accounts state that both Mama Ocllo and Manco Cápac were Inti's children by the Moon. Another account tells how Mama Ocllo and her siblings were all brought into existence by Inti, though this time they emerged from the middle of three windows on a cave known as Pacariqtambo, were given a sign when they approached the land they were supposed to settle on rather than a rod to prod the ground with. Instead of Inti, one legend says that Mama Ocllo is the daughter of Viracocha and Mama Qucha, making her a sibling of Inti. There are historical accounts, including those recorded by Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Juan de Betanzos, Fray Martin de Morua, that described Mama Ocllo and Manco Cápac as leaders of a group of people who came from the Tampu Tocco area. According to the legend, Mama Ocllo and Manco Capac were given a golden scepter to help them find an ideal place to settle and worship the sun.

After their wanderings, the pair descended into a valley. They decided to build the city of Cuzco after the golden rod they brought with them sank into the soil and disappeared; the pair set out to gather people and brought them to the city. They were instructed in the ways of human beings and were divided the population according to those who can gather food and build houses; the people built the Coricancha referred to as the Intihuasi, at the center of the new imperial city or - as some sources say - where the rod disappeared

Helen Biggar was a Scottish sculptor and theatre designer. She was politically active in the 1930s, she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and was one of the filmmakers behind Hell UnLtd, recognised as one of Britain's most important pieces of avant-garde political film. Biggar was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1909, the eldest daughter of Florence and Hugh Biggar, a founding member of the Independent Labour Party, she was the niece of John Biggar, Lord Provost of Glasgow between 1941 and 1943. As a child she fell victim to a number of accidents including two injuries to her spine, which affected her height. Biggar enrolled at the Glasgow School of Art in 1925, at the age of 16, to study textile design, graduated in 1929, she went on to study sculpture at postgraduate level. Following her graduation, she set up a studio in the city. In 1945, Biggar moved to London, marrying Eli Montlake in 1948, she died at St Mary Abbot's Hospital, Paddington in London, having suffered a sudden brain haemorrhage, Biggar's sculptural work was undertaken in a variety of media including plaster and stone.

One focus of her work was portraiture, one of her subjects being Emilio Coia, a fellow student at Glasgow School of Art. Another subject was her sister Mary, her uncle John Biggar, the result of, exhibited in 1935 at the Royal Glasgow Institute. After leaving the Glasgow School of Art, Biggar met Norman McLaren, with whom she shared political views. In 1935 they collaborated on an animated film made in plasticine, they collaborated again in 1936 on Hell Unltd, a non-narrative protest film attacking government spending on munitions as opposed to healthcare and welfare provision. It was created though a collage by mixing library footage and live-action. Hell Unltd was distributed by Kino Films. In March 1938, Biggar made a documentary concerning Glasgow's May Day Procession, entitled May Day 1938 or Challenge to Fascism; the film was shot with three 16mm static cameras, manned by Biggar, her old tutor from Glasgow School of Art Willie Maclean and G. Bartlett of the Glasgow Kino Group. Biggar placed an advert in the Scottish Co-operative newspaper seeking assistance to raise £50 to make it.

Biggar joined the Glasgow Workers' Theatre Group in 1938. After its founding in 1940, she designed for the Glasgow Unity Theatre, in 1950, joined Ballet Rambert as a costume designer and wardrobe mistress. Anna Shepherd, Biggar's niece, wrote two accounts of her life; the first, work, Traces Left, served as the source material for a documentary made by the Birmingham Film Workshop in 1983. In 2014 Shepherd published Helen Unlimited: A Little Biggar. Hell Unltd - BFI synopsis, with clips and production stills