Over this past growing season, JDCF staff have been tending to a plot of Indigenous corn, ‘Teejop Wicawas’, gifted to us by Bill Quackenbush, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer of the Ho-Chunk Nation. It is likely that varieties of this corn were grown in northwest Illinois by ancestors of the modern-day Ho-Chunk for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Following the passage of the Indian Removal Act by the Federal Government in the 1830s, all Native American people were forced from the eastern U.S., including Illinois, and relocated to unfamiliar lands to the west and south. To the best of our knowledge, “Teejop Wicawas” has not grown in this region since that time. Until now.
In May, the corn seeds were planted in a specially made, raised garden bed by two of our staff alongside a local centennial corn farmer. The small team felt linked to their rural neighbors, many of whom were in the fields, also planting crops for harvest in the fall. They thought about how this simple act has been carried out by countless others before them, a seasonal activity to prepare for winter that knows no cultural boundaries. In August, harvesting began with most of the colorful corn seeds being de-cobbed and dehydrated for later use in cooking. The rest were preserved for next year’s crop as part of an expanded Indigenous garden at JDCF’s Hess House Center for Science and Culture in Galena, IL. In October, members of the Ho-Chunk Nation traveled to Galena to share their traditional Green Corn Ceremony, in celebration of the harvest, with members of JDCF.
The gift of seeds from the Ho-Chunk, the growing and harvesting of the corn, and the green corn celebration are some of many unexpected outcomes of relationship building with the Ho-Chunk Nation and Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma. JDCF is honored to be working with these tribes to build the foundation for new and lasting connections between our cultures that center on the land, community, and timeless traditions we all share, such as preparing for the fall harvest.(photos © Debbie Larys, Bill Quackenbush, and Clayton Winneshiek)
