In the course of growing some of the older corn varieties still being farmed at that time, Carl began noticing ancestral types of corn re-appearing in his crops. Carl continued working the farm, along with his wife Karen, and they raised a family. He also spent several years serving with the Kansas Highway Patrol. Carl went on to earn a degree in Agricultural Education, and later in his adult years worked with the Cooperative Extension Service. Much of this quest centered on the ceremonies surrounding planting, harvesting, and honoring seeds. Carl spent his childhood on this homestead, and the family lived through the 1930s Dust Bowl years, staying to survive the ordeal rather than leaving as many did at that time in our history.Īs a youth, Carl began to seek out his Cherokee roots, exploring the knowledge of his own ancestors and of Native American traditions in general, by learning from his grandfather. His father had moved the family west, where they acquired land and set up farming on the High Plains. Reconnecting With a Lost Heritage Through Rare CornĬarl is of half Cherokee, half Scotch-Irish ancestry and was born in the family’s original farmhouse about a half-mile from his current home. Barnes, on their original homestead in the panhandle of the state, a few miles south of Liberal, Kan. Carl is now in his eighties and lives with his son, A.V. The original seed was obtained from Carl L. Because of this exposure, I find it appropriate to personally share how this corn originated and its journey to this day. And its kinfolk from a remarkably colorful gene pool share this story. That little ear of corn with the translucent, jewel-colored kernels, whose picture has recently received attention around the world, has a story.
Over thousands of years the Native peoples of the Americas adopted maize into their agricultural and ceremonial lifeways, and developed it into the diverse forms that we see today. The beginnings of maize, or corn as it is commonly called, go back to the indigenous farmers of south central Mexico who worked with its ancestral grasses to bring forth a usable grain.
0 kommentar(er)
