Returning to their roots, health

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ^ | Nov. 17, 2009 | Karen Herzog

[Pharmboy]

Mark Hoffman
Surrounded by white corn drying the traditional way, manager Jeff Metoxen
talks about the benefits of white corn to a group of visitors from Germany last
month at the Tsyunhehkwa Agricultural Center in Oneida. Oneida embrace planting,
harvesting of white corn as a staple of diet, culture

Mark Hoffman
White corn has far fewer rows of kernels than its sweet corn cousin.

Oneida - George Washington's troops at Valley Forge may have starved to death without the white corn an Oneida Indian chief gave them in the winter of 1777 during the Revolutionary War.

Now, the Oneida, like other tribes in Wisconsin, are returning to indigenous foods such as high-protein white corn and bison to aid their own survival, as diabetes and heart disease associated with fast-food diets plague tribal members.

The heirloom corn can be traced back to the upstate New York homeland of the Oneida Nation before the colonists arrived. It is grown today on reservation land in three places in North America: upstate New York, Canada (Thames, Ontario), and Oneida near Green Bay, according to tribal officials.

Oneida from Wisconsin visited the New York reservation 16 years ago, and brought back seeds from the tribe's seed bank. Each year, the Wisconsin Oneida plant 6 to 8 acres of the corn. Tribal culture and ceremony are established around the planting and harvest, reconnecting Oneida to a past that had been lost to many.

"Even though we've been removed from New York, we're still connected. The white corn goes back to the creation story to provide for our people," said Vickie Cornelius, manager of the tribal cannery, which processes the corn for several food products.

The Oneida - one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois - came to Wisconsin in 1821, pressured by the government and white land speculators who demanded large portions of their homeland.

Today, at the Oneida organic farm in Wisconsin, white corn is picked by hand during a harvest and husking bee that attracts a few hundred Oneida and curious onlookers. A late fall breeze whispers through the corn stalks as ears are plucked, one by one, and stalks are stomped to the ground.

Once the corn is harvested, the husks are braided together by hand, and hung to dry in a storage shed. The corn is shelled by hand before being turned over to the tribal cannery.

Oneida Nation schoolchildren are served corn soup once a month as part of their school lunch program and corn mush once a month for breakfast. The students tour the cannery to learn about the native corn, and how it is prepared.

"We are teaching our children that this is something we need to preserve and pass on," Cornelius said. The cannery turns the corn into nine products, including dehydrated corn for soup traditionally served at tribal ceremonies, and corn flour that is combined with water and dried beans to make a nutritious cornbread. The products are available year-round at the Tsyunhehkwa Natural Retail Store in Oneida, which is open to the public.

This year's white corn harvest ended shortly before Halloween and took about a month to complete, according to Frank Haney, a community outreach worker.

"You need to have a good mind" to patiently harvest corn by hand, said Jamie Betters, 27, who works at the cannery. "This is our traditional food, and our creation story talks about taking care of the corn, and the corn saying it won't stay if you don't take care of it."

The corn is harvested by hand because "corn cracks up and you lose a lot with a machine harvest," said Jeff Metoxen, manager of the Tsyunhehkwa Agricultural Center. "Hand harvesting allows us to pick about everything."

Standard field corn has 22 rows of kernels; the white corn of the Oneida has eight rows of large white kernels. Its genetic variability fashions flavors from earthy to sugary, depending on the stage of development. Its protein content is 18%, compared with sweet corn's 5% protein.

Metoxen said the harvest and husking bee are important to the Oneida because they bring together tribal members to celebrate native culture.

"When we plant it, we give thanks to the Creator for allowing us to plant," Metoxen said. "At the close of harvest, we provide another tobacco offering and it carries prayers to the Creator, thanking the Creator for the harvest. When all the corn is off the field, everything goes to sleep to revitalize itself for spring."

Now, the cannery is busy keeping up with demand for corn products at the tribe's retail store, as many tribal members prepare for Thanksgiving.

Some of the 2,000 to 3,000 Oneida who live in the area mark Thanksgiving with a family meal to give thanks for the earth's bounty. Others consider it a day of mourning. There's some evidence that the true "First Thanksgiving" might have been a feast for colonists to celebrate the massacre of 700 Pequot natives at Mystic Fort near present day Groton, Conn.

For local Oneida who mark Thanksgiving with a family meal, cornbread is a staple, and something families look forward to sharing, said Betters, of the cannery.

"We'll bake 700 to 800 one-pound wheels for families that have ordered it," she said.

Betters takes pride in her cannery work.

"We're the last individuals to touch this corn, so it's important we take good care of it, do right by it, and make it available not only for ceremonial purposes, but also for individuals' everyday use."

[Pharmboy]

The Iroquois Confederation is made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations, the Tuscarora coming later in the 18th Century. Every few years or so I like to remind Freepers that the Oneida Nation were the only group to side with the Patriots in the RevWar...all the others joining the Brits.

Just FYI...

[Sherman Logan]

all the others joining the Brits.

Which did NOT work out well for them.

[Pharmboy]

Oneida Nation Member Ron Paterson on a "scouting mission"
as part of the reenactment commemorating the Battle of Saratoga.

The RevWar/Colonial History/Gen. Washington ping list...

[wolfpat]

Yeah, but their reservation near Brantford, Ontario isn’t bad. Ohsweken is a bustling town.

[Mac from Cleveland]

Good for them.

Are they going to give up the firewater, as well?

[aculeus]

bttt

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks Pharmboy! George Washington's troops at Valley Forge may have starved to death without the white corn an Oneida Indian chief gave them in the winter of 1777 during the Revolutionary War. Now, the Oneida, like other tribes in Wisconsin, are returning to indigenous foods such as high-protein white corn and bison to aid their own survival, as diabetes and heart disease associated with fast-food diets plague tribal members. The General was saved by some kernels! To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
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[colorado tanker]

Looks good, but I still like my Olathe Sweet corn. That's good eats.

[SunkenCiv]

Cream ‘n’ Sugar. Or is it Sugar and Cream. Oh, no, it’s Candy Corn... that’s the variety my folks used to plant.

[Fiddlstix]

......corn mush once a month for breakfast.

Among the somewhat long list of my Dad's "favorite foods" was corn mush.
My Grandmother used to make corn mush for us kids for breakfast when we'd stay at her house.....
Hmmmmm....
Good....

[nascarnation]

Wow my dad was a mush fan too and my grandma also made it.
He was from Connecticut.

[Fiddlstix]

GMTA!

[Pharmboy]

The General was saved by some kernels!

This one makes the All-Time SunkenCiv Top Ten List of Puns...

[Cincinna]

Thanks, Civ, for the great Shaggy Dog Story

[SunkenCiv]

:’) I asked myself, canine not ping this one, but I know that if fidon’t there will hard feelings.

[SunkenCiv]

I maize soon take that one to my gig in the Catskills.

[NonValueAdded]

Saratoga!

[Peanut Gallery]

There's some evidence that the true "First Thanksgiving" might have been a feast for colonists to celebrate the massacre of 700 Pequot natives at Mystic Fort near present day Groton, Conn.

What a teaser! I'd like to have heard more on this. This is something schools don't or won't teach.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Thanks for posting this. I read it yesterday in the print version of the Milwaukee Journal sentinel. One question that they did not answer is: do they sell the seed for their white corn? Or, is this considered sacred and reserved just for the Indians?

Another question that struck me: is this where Wisconsin farmers get that mixed white and yellow kernal corn that is produced here? Is it a hybrid of the Oneida corn and ordinary yellow corn?

[Pharmboy]

All good questions...sounds like a letter to the editor in the making.

And, I was surprised that the MJS allows us to post full text on FR...good for them.