CORN

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CORN
By Kathy Novgrod November 30, 2006
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Corn
Corn entered into the legends and religious
practices of North American Indian nations of the
Southwest, Southeast, Plains, and Eastern
woodlands. Corn gods in different regions
are personified as Corn Mother, Corn
Maidens, and even Corn Grandfathers as in this
story of the hermit. Various parts of the corn
plant are used ritually such as husks, pollen,
kernels, and whole ears. Major tribal ceremonies
are held prior to corn planting and after the
harvest.
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LEGENDS
Selu -Wild boy -2 grandsons
The Story of The Corn Husk Doll
The Hermit, or The Gift of Corn
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Selu
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The Story of The Corn Husk Doll
Many, many years ago, the corn, one of the Three
Sisters, wanted to makesomething different. She
made the moccasin and the salt boxes, the
mats,and the face. She wanted to do something
different so the Great Spiritgave her
permission.So she made the little people out of
corn husk and theywere to roam the earth so that
they would bring brotherhood and contentmentto
the Iroquois tribe. But she made one that was
very, very beautiful.This beautiful corn
person, you might call her, went into the woods
and saw herself in a pool. She saw how beautiful
she was and she became very vain. That began to
make the people very unhappy and so the Great
Spirit warned her.She didn't pay attention to
his warning, so the last time the messenger came
and told her that she was going to have her
punishment. Her punishment would be that she'd
have no face, she would not converse with the
birds or the animals. She'd roam the earth
forever, looking for something to do to gain her
face back again. So
that's why we don't put any faces on the husk
dolls.
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THE HERMIT, OR THE GIFT OF CORN
In the forest far away from people lived a
hermit. He wore a robe of deerskin and lived in
a tent of buffalo skins. He was content to spend
his life here far from humans. He spent his days
going through the forest and collecting roots to
use for food and medicine. Warriors would come
to the hermit to get medicinal roots for the
tribe. The hermits medicine was superior to all
others. One long hard day the hermit returned
home and fell asleep immediately. As he was
dozing off he felt something at his feet.
Startled he noticed a dark object. The object
extended an arm toward him. In the hand was a
flint-pointed arrow. The hermit thought it must
be a spirit since there was no humans around.
But suddenly a voice asked the Hermit to come
into their home. The hermit said he would and
sat up and put on his rob. He then started
towards the voice but once outside could not see
the object. The hermit yelled out wait for me I
do not know where to find your house. But there
was no reply. He went back into his tent and
went to sleep. The next day the voice was heard
again. He walked outside his tent but again saw
nothing. He became mad and determined to find
out who was causing all of this. So he cut a hole
in his tent so he could stick an arrow through
it. The following night he stood by the door
watching and as soon as the dark object came and
said Grandfather, I cam to But he did not get
to finish before the hermit had shot his arrow.
It sounded as if he a shot into a sack of
pebbles. The hermit went out the next day to see
what he had struck. There on the ground lay a
little heap of corn, and from this heap a small
line of corn lay scattered along a path. He
followed the path into the forest until he
reached a small mound. At its end there was a
large circle from which grass had been scraped
off clean. The old man thought this was the home
of whoever invited me. He began to dig into the
center of the circle. He found a dried sack of
meat. Then he found turnips, and then cherries,
and finally a sack of corn. The sack of corn was
empty except one cup of corn and the corner had a
hole where the arrow had went through. This hole
had scattered the corn along the trail which
guided the man to the place. From this
experience the hermit taught his people how to
keep their provisions while they were traveling.
Dig a pit and put your food in it and cover it
with earth. By this method, the Sioux used to
keep their food all summer. When fall came, they
would return to their hiding place and open it up
to find everything fresh as they were the day
before they placed it there. The people were
pleased with the hermits method for keeping their
food preserved and thanked him for his advice.
They thanked him for discovering corn it was the
first they had seen. It became one of the most
important foods the Indians knew.
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History
Corn (Zea mays) was domesticated from a wild
plant called teosinte (Zea mexicana) at least
seven thousand years ago in Mexico. Considered a
sacred crop, corn figured prominently in Mayan
creation myths. One famous image depicts an earth
god sprouting from a stalk. Corn was spread
throughout north and south America. Indians used
corn for food and trading. Indians carried corn
to the Caribbean and in 1493 Christopher Columbus
found corn on today the island of Cuba. It
quickly spread throughout Europe and the middle
east. Portuguese took corn to Africa where it
replaced their diet based on grains. By 1550
Chinese had corn and today almost everywhere has
corn and many different kinds.
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What kinds of corn are there??
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Sweet Corn, Zea mays
Modern sweet corn cultivars arose in the 19th
century when a single gene (su) mutated in field
corn. Plants descended from this mutant had
kernels with a sugary rather than a starchy
endosperm and a creamy texture. The low starch
levels make the kernel wrinkled rather than
plump. Sweet corn also has a thinner seed coat
than field corn, making it more tender.
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White corn
White corn is a hybrid of dent corn with specific
endosperm (starch) traits, often referred to as
hard endosperm. White food corn has a white
kernel color and whiter starch.
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Blue Corn
Native to North America, the origins of blue corn
date back centuries to the Indian tribes of the
American Southwest. Spanish explorers discovered
that blue corn and other colored corns were a
food staple for the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico
in 1540. Today, modern manufactured foods
produced from blue corn include tortilla chips,
pancake and muffin mixes and blue corn flakes. We
continue the tradition by supplying high-quality
blue corn to the food manufacturing industry.
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FLINT CORN
Flint corn is very hard and gets its name from
flint, a hard type of stone. The colors of flint
corn range from white to red. Flint corn is
commonly used for industrial purposes and
livestock feed. Today, flint corn is widely grown
in Asia, Europe, and Central and South America.
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.
Flint corn is also known as Indian corn.
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Dent CornZea mays indentata  
Dent corn is softer than flint corn. It has a
dent in each kernel. Most kernels are yellow or
white. It is commonly grown in North America and
often used as livestock feed. It is also used to
make many processed foods.
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Flour Corn
Flour corn has a very soft starchy kernel. It is
easily ground and is used in baked goods. Flour
and Flint corn were the chief types of corn
raised by Native Americans. Today, it is used
mostly for food by the people who grow it. It is
one of the oldest kinds of corn.
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Popcorn

• Popcorn is a special type of flint corn with
  hard, small kernels. The natural moisture inside
  the kernels turns to steam when heated, but the
  outer coat of the kernel is so hard that the
  moisture is trapped. This causes the steam to
  build up pressure until the kernel explodes. The
  wild ancestor of corn is believed to have been a
  type of popcorn. Today, the United States is
  responsible for producing almost all of the
  world's popcorn.

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Pod corn
Pod corn is thought to have been the first type
of corn grown. Each kernel grows in its own husk,
so it is difficult to use without Incorporating
a lot of labor. It is raised today for scientific
research
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It Begins With a Kernel
Four Major Components 1. Starch 2.
Protein 3. Oil 4. Fiber
These kernel components are processed to create
thousands of different products for all sorts of
uses. In the mill, kernels are broken down into
their basic components, which are then
transformed into the basic corn products that are
used in so many of the products we love. Basic
parts of the corn kernel Seed coat protects
whats inside the seed Endosperm provides energy
for the young plant. It makes up most of the
kernel by weight. Embryo or germ is always on
the side with the indentation. It is the
immature corn plant. Kernel tip where the
kernel is attached to the cob
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Products from Corn
Corn Starches
Corn Syrups
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What can you get from one bushel of corn?
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In a World Without Corn...
Corn and products made from corn improve the
lives of Americans in thousands of little ways.
Often, consumers dont even know corn is present,
let alone know the role it plays. But if corn and
its products werent available, many common
products would be less useful, more expensive,
even unavailable. WITHOUT CORN
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No frozen pizza! Freezing pizza is a problem.
Modified corn starch is used to provide a barrier
that prevents water migration and keeps the crust
crisp.
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On a low-fat diet? Say thank you for corn. Many
low-fat foods depend on corn-derived food
starches to provide qualities that used to come
from fats. Examples include everything from
low-fat salad dressing to baked goods and meat
products.
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Frustrating wallpaper. Repositioning is possible
because the wallpaper paste is made with corn
starch modified to slow down its adhesive action
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No coloring for kids. Whether playing with chalk
on the sidewalk or crayons in school, American
children rely on corn. Corn starch is used as a
binder to help such products hold together better
when in use.
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Drippy lollipops. Candy makers began using corn
syrups in lollipops and other hard candies
generations ago because the syrups hold moisture
and prevent drips.
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Want S'more? Not without corn! Marshmallows stay
fresh longer because corn syrup keeps them from
drying out too quickly. Corn ingredients are also
used to make graham crackers, which means you
can't enjoy S'mores without corn!
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Ustilago maydis (corn smut)
Some diseases of corn include leaf blights, stalk
and ear rots, smuts, rusts, and viruses.
This is the best known disease of corn. In dry
windy weather in late spring and early summer and
heavily fertilized soils will increase the
incidence of the disease. It is a fungus grows
on the aboveground parts of the corn and was
eaten boiled, often with the corn.
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Important role in the lives and culture of the
Maya people.
The Maya creation story states that the flesh of
humans came from sacred ears of maiz. We know
that corn made up 80 of the Maya diet thousands
of years ago. Even today when you visit the areas
of Mexico and Central America populated by five
million Maya descendants, it's easy to see that
corn continues to be the most important food in
the Maya diet. Ethnobotanists examine
information from present-day society as well as
paintings, carvings, figurines, and other art
discovered at ancient Maya temple ruins. This
reveals that corn played an important role in
religion as well as diet, confirming that the
Maya valued the maize god. Ethnobotanists also
analyze soil samples taken from archaeological
sites. They look for pollen, charred seeds, or
food remains stuck in the bottom of broken pots.
Then they study these fragile remains to analyze
the plant's DNA and to compare it with that of
the plant's contemporary descendants.
Ethnobotanists contribute much to our
understanding of how the Maya have interacted
with the plants in their environment for
thousands of years. These scientists can show us
how ancient customs translate into modern life
and suggest methods to conserve the traditional
ways of a proud culture such as the Maya.
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Bibliography
Jugenheimer, Robert W. Corn Improvement, Seed
Production, and Uses. (John Wiley Sons New
York and London). Wallace, Henry and William,
Brown. Corn and Its Early Fathers. (Iowa State
University Press, AMES). Awaiakta, Marilou. Selu
Seeking the Corn-Mothers Wisdom. (Fulcrum
Publishing Golden, Colorado). Mangelsdorf, Paul.
Corn Its Origin Evolution and Improvement.(The
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press,
Cambridge Massachusetts, 1974) http//www.tpt.org
/newtons/12/ethnobot.html http//www.accessexcell
ence.org/RC/Ethnobotany/page5.html
http//www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/ethnoarchaeo
logy/ethnobotany/food_tuvz.html
www.richlandorganics.com/products/bluecorn.htm
http//www.campsilos.org/mod3/students/c_history.
shtml http//www.iowacorn.org/cornuse/cornuse_10.
html