There is a lot of interesting
information out there on Native American culture, for instance a site about the
Haudenosaunee Indians (or Iroquois) in Victor, New York just southeast of
Rochester, http://www.gagondagon.org/.
The Haudenosaunee are currently
working on the Iroquois White Corn Project,
which is an effort to restore the farming, consumption and distribution of
a traditional, nutritious, low glycemic index Iroquois white corn, used widely
by the Haudenosaunee for at least 2,000 years.
It was grown in abundance by the 17th Century Ganondagan
until thousands of bushels of it, the food that sustained the 4,500 people
living there, was burnt by the French in 1687. (Haudenosaunee
Indian Fact Sheet, 1998-2014)
Frenchman Marquis de Denonville, in
the course of military expeditions against the Haudenoshaunee in 1687 reported
that his forces destroyed more than 400,000 minots of corn. A French minot, according to Lewis Henry
Morgan, equals roughly three bushels, so the 400,000 minots of corn that
Denonville’s forces destroyed in 1687 equaled roughly 1.2 million bushels. While Denonville’s estimate may have been
inflated to please his superior’s, even half that amount would be a very large
cache and devastating to the Haudenoshaunee. (Johnson & Mann, 2000)
Frenchman Marquis de Denonville, in
the course of military expeditions against the Haudenoshaunee in 1687 reported
that his forces destroyed more than 400,000 minots of corn. A French minot, according to Lewis Henry
Morgan, equals roughly three bushels, so the 400,000 minots of corn that
Denonville’s forces destroyed in 1687 equaled roughly 1.2 million bushels. While Denonville’s estimate may have been
inflated to please his superior’s, even half that amount would be a very large
cache and devastating to the Haudenoshaunee.
The Haudenoshaunee ability to
produce a surplus of corn played a role in the political influence of the
confederacy (or alliance of 6 Native American Nations) which reached, through a
chain of alliances, from their homelands in present day upstate New York across
much of New England and the Middle Atlantic Regions. (Johnson &
Mann, 2000)
The original vision of the White
Corn Project was to bring the corn back to a prominent place at the center of
Haudenosaunee culture, diet and community.
They will plant, process and sell white corn in an effort to rebuild on
their legacy. (Ganondagan, n.d.)
For those interested in learning
more about this the link between traditional white corn and the Haudenoshaunee
(Iroquois) Creation Story will be the focus of the “Corn and Haudenoshaunee Creation”
workshops on Tuesday, March 18 from 6:30-8 PM
at the friends of Gagondagans Iroquois White Corn Project at 7191
Country Road 41 at School Street in Victor, NY.
Tell me
and I’ll forget
Show me
and I may not remember
Involve me
and I’ll understand
(Native
American Proverb)
