PUEBLO INDIAN MAIZE BREEDING 



Varieties Specially Adapted to Arid Regions Developed by Hopis and Navajos- 

 Their Work Not Sufficiently Appreciated — Probably 

 Much Yet to be Learned from Them. 



G. N. Collins 

 Botanist, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 



Washington, D. C. 



A MONG the many gifts that the 

 / \ white man received from the 

 I V American Indian, maize is un- 

 doubtedly the most valuable. 

 In the mythology of the Indian this 

 cereal occupies a central position as the 

 most important gift of the gods. 



The power of minute observation 

 commonly possessed by primitive people 

 is highly developed in the agricultural 

 Indian tribes of the Southwest. These 

 Indians spend much of their time in 

 their maize fields and it is only natural 

 that the plant which supplies their 

 principal food should come to be known 

 in great detail. Every character of the 

 plant, every operation in its cultivation 

 and every stage in its growth are 

 observed by the Indian with a minute 

 attention in which he is seldom equalled 

 by his white brother. 



The ceremonies and care with which 

 maize is cultivated by the Indians of 

 the Southwest are well illustrated in a 

 series of articles on "Zuni Breadstuff," 

 by the late Frank Gushing, who showed 

 that the importance of selection, care of 

 seed, and cross-breeding, though not 

 appreciated as such, are aU given care- 

 ful and conscious consideration by the 

 Zunis. 



According to Gushing, "In each corn- 

 room or granary of Zuni, are preserved 

 carefully, four objects; an ear of yellow 

 corn full to the tip of perfect kernels, 

 called a yd-po-to; an ear of white corn 

 which has resulted from the inter- 

 growth of two or more ears within a 

 single husk-fold, called, from its dis- 

 proportionate breadth and flatness, a 

 mi-k' iap-pan-ne ; a moderately large 

 normal ear of com which has been 

 dipped by a Seed-Priest, in the waters 



of the great sacred Salt Lake far south 

 of Zuni {Las Salinas of New Mexico), 

 and a bunch of unbroken corn-soot. 

 The latter two objects are laid side by 

 side on the floor in the middle of the 

 corn-room, and upon them also side by 

 side, usually connected by a bandage of 

 cotton filaments, the yd-po-to and the 

 mi-k' iap-pan-ne. 



"The significance of all this is both 

 interesting and poetic. The corn-soot 

 is held to symbolize the 'generation of 

 life,' the salted and sanctified ear of 

 com, the material given by the gods and 

 prepared by man, as the means whereby 

 generated life is sustained, and finally, 

 both these are regarded as the resting 

 place or couch of the Father and Mother 

 of corn-crops or seed; the yd-po-to 

 being the male, the mi-k' iap-pan-ne,. 

 the female. 



EARS SELECTED WHILE GROWING. 



"In a field of growing maize the 

 owner selects such hills as give promise 

 of speediest maturity. These receive 

 his special care. No sooner have a few 

 ears ripened on them than he picks the 

 most perfect, as well as a bunch of soot 

 from some neighboring stalk, and 

 tenderly carries them home in his arms. 

 Arrived at the entrance-way of his 

 house he calls to the women within: 



" 'We come!' 



" 'Ah! How come ye?' say they. 



" 'Together, happily,' he replies. 



" 'Then enter ye!' calls out the chorus 

 of women's voices, whereupon the man 

 goes slowly in. One of the women 

 beckons his attention to the 'sitting 

 place,' which, in this instance, is a 

 decorated basket -tray in the center of 

 the room. Thither he proceeds and 



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