The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
Biologists and Anthropologists say that corn was developed about nine thousand years ago in Mexico and South America. The seed and its technology traveled to Mesoamerica to the Aztec and Maya, then to Nouth America within a short period of time. The rest of the known world had no knowledge of this food plant. This all changed in 1492 when Colombus found corn cultivated in the Caribbean Islands and brought it back to Spain and Portugal. Corn spread worldwide to the European continent and the British Isles. The Middle Eastern countries, Asia and India. The whole world stated to grow Corn in some areas replacing cereal grains. Today most American farmers have little knowledge of the origin of Corn.
Skipping ahead to the 1600’s, French explorers, and fur traders discovered the rich lands to the west and found the Dakota people. The Dakota were hunter -gatherers who were more gardeners, rather than farmers, planting an acre or two. As the Dakota lived in a land that contained many lakes as well as rivers, they harvested Wild Rice as their main vegetable in their diet. Dakota corn was a short plant about three feet tall due to the northern climate. This corn produced ears six to 8 inches long with 8 rows of kernels. They obtained one ear of corn to each plant. They planted their corn in hills of mounded earth in the spring (Wetu) and went off to pursue other food sources. The Dakota returned to their gardens in about the month of August to cultivate and to harvest some of the corn in the milk stage named Sweetcorn and a feast known as the Green Corn Festival.
The Dakota grew two types of corn 1) Flower (Zea mays variant amylacea) and 2) Flint (Zea mays induata). The Flower corn was named Panpanna (made soft or crushing). The dried kernels were pounded in a wood mortar with a heavy wood pestle. This flour was formed into patties and gruel. 2) Flint Corn was named Kohhdi (shining or glossy- a loan word from the Hidatsa) and used to make soups. The dried Flower Corn kernels are ground into a powder, produced with a mortar and pestle using dried corn kernels. The Flint Corn has a hard outer shell which was removed by soaking the dried kernels in hardwood ash, to produce a lye that removed the hard outer shell, making what is known today as Hominy. These two varieties of corn through inbreeding produced white, yellow, red and blue colors. The mixed corn of many of these colors, now called Indian Corn came about by cross pollination. The color did not affect their flavor. The Corn in white and yellow colors were preferred by the Dakota.
To be continued Tuesday, April 8 in the Devils Lake Journal – Editor LAO
