Corn

Mandan Gift to the World

Mandan people have long been known as some of the northernmost native agriculturalists in North America. What is less well-known is that Mandan corn has had a major impact on the well-being of the human race on a global scale.

            Corn was first domesticated about 9,000 years ago in southern Mexico. It is a tropical plant that requires long summers, a lot of sunshine, and plenty of water. For all intents and purposes, it shouldn’t even be cultivated in the dry and cold climate of North Dakota. However, not only is corn common in North Dakota, it is also widely grown in Canada.

            The history of corn cultivation in the northern latitudes is intimately related to the history of Mandan people.

            The Mandan traditions tell us a story of an epic migration upstream along the Missouri River that lasted for many hundreds of years. The direction of this movement was always from the south to the north. There was a prophesy that explicitly forbade the people to backtrack downstream after settlements grew and splinter groups established new villages further up the river.

            The process was too slow to be discernible over a single person’s lifetime, but in the historical perspective we see how the chain of Mandan villages almost imperceptibly inched its way northwards by shedding off the southernmost villages and establishing new ones in the north.

            Whenever a new village was established, the first order of the day was to clear the land and plant a garden. The corn priests were tasked with the duty of selecting and preserving the strongest and most viable seeds from the previous years’ harvest. Thus, through a process of selective breeding that took many centuries, the Mandan gardeners developed some of the hardiest varieties of corn (and other and beans and squash) known to mankind.

The process was really simple. By constantly selecting the hardiest seeds that had survived the previous years’ droughts and harsh winters, the corn priests encourages those traits in the corn until they became dominant. By isolating plants that produced crops in larger quantities in a shorter growth period created strains with unique characteristics that became known as the eleven varieties of Mandan corn.

            Unlike the tropical varieties of corn, which are regularly more than 10 feet high, the Mandan varieties have been “trained” to channel their energy into the rapid production of ears at the expense of everything else. As a result, Mandan corn is known for its short stalks and short growth periods, which is perfect for climates with short summers and infrequent rainfall.

            These characteristics of Mandan corn could not have developed if the migration along the Missouri River northwards had been any faster. There would not have been enough time for the consecutive generations of seeds to “catch up” and adapt to the harsher climates.

Mandan corn and the Mandan people have shared a symbiotic relationship that spans countless generations. In the harsh climates of North Dakota, neither one could have survived without the other. They nurtured each other, sustained each other, and depended on each other.

Mandan corn goes global

The excellent qualities of Mandan corn were recognized the Oscar H. Will & Company – North Dakota’s first seed house and nursery. The Will family took advantage of the opportunities presented by the close proximity of Fort Berthold and made many fast friends among the traditional Mandan horticulturalists there.

            In 1907, the Will company offered the Nuetta sweet corn for the first time. In the following years, other varieties of Mandan corn were included in the catalogue.

            The varieties of Mandan corn that the Will company offered were gifts from James Holding Eagle and her mother, Scattered Corn Woman, whose mother was Medicine Seed and father Moves Slowly, the last Mandan corn priest. Seeds were also gifted by Water Chief and other Mandan and Hidatsa benefactors.

            The H. Will & Company finally closed in 1959 after having been in the Will family for three generations. As a token of acknowledgment and gratitude, the company featured Scattered Corn Woman and other Mandan benefactors many times on their catalogue cover. As long as the company was active, they never ceased to emphasize the significance of the generous gift by the Mandan people.

            Over the years, the Will company introduced dozens of varieties of hybridized and crossed corns to the market, many of which could be traced back to the original gift of Mandan corn. The enduring legacy of Mandan corn is manifested today in the thousands of acers of cultivated land throughout the northern part of the United States and Canada that would otherwise be unsuitable for the more southerly varieties of corn.

            The economists say that the amount of corn grown in the United States and Canada, both for human consumption and as silage, could be sufficient to feed not only these two countries but the rest of the world – all of it – as well. The world really owes a huge ???? to the Mandan people for the selfless act of generosity – the gift of Mandan corn.

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