July 20, 2026
MAIZE
The American aborigines worshipped Maize as a divinity. Children were kept to watch the precious grain as it grew, and guard it from the ravages of birds; but some of the tribes protected the thievish crow because of the legend that a crow had brought them the first seed of the sacred plant.
At the present day, the Indians regard it with superstitious veneration. They esteem it, says Schoolcraft, so important and divine a grain, that their story-tellers invented various tales in which this idea is symbolised under the form of a special gift from the Great Spirit. The Ojebwa-Algonquins, who call it Mon-da-min, or the Spirit’s grain or berry, cherish a legend, in which the stalk in full tassel is represented as descending from the sky, under the guise of a handsome youth, in response to the prayers of a young man offered up at his fast of virility.
Among the American colonists, the husking of the Maize was always accompanied with a rustic ceremony and gathering of the villagers.
Longfellow tells us how—