Origin of Indian Corn

Once upon a time an Indian chief sat alone in his wigwam thinking about the needs of his tribe. For more than a year food had been very scarce, and they were suffering from a scanty fare of roots, herbs, and berries. Many of the people had come to him in their misery.

"We ask you to help us, brave chief," they cried. "Will you not entreat the Great Spirit to send us some of the food from the Happy Hunting Grounds where it is so plentiful? See how weak and thin our young braves are. Help us or we shall die."

"I'll go into the depths of the forest," said the chief. "There I'll live until the Great Spirit tells me how to relieve the misery of my people."

He left his wigwam and walked far into the forest, where he waited for several days before the Great Spirit spoke these words to him:

"In the moon of rains take thy family and go to the stretch of land which joins this forest. Wait there until I send thee a message."

The chief went back to the Indian village, and told what he had heard from the Great Spirit. And in the Moon of Rains he called together his honoured wife, his fleet-footed sons, and his graceful daughter, and said, "Follow me to the stretch of land beyond the forest."

When they reached the great plain, they stood in a group waiting for a message from the Great Spirit. For three suns they stood patiently without once changing their positions.

The Indians of the tribe grew anxious to know what had happened to their chief and his family, and some of them slipped through the wood to the plain where they knew he had been directed to go. There they saw the group of figures standing with their hands uplifted, and their eyes closed. The Indians were filled with awe.

"The Great Spirit is talking to them," they whispered, as they went back to their wigwams.

In a few days they returned to the plain. A marvelous sight met their eyes. Instead of the chief and his family standing like images of sleep, they saw wonderful green plants, tall and straight, with broad, flat leaves, and in place of uplifted hands they beheld ears of corn with silken fringe.

"The Great 'Spirit has called our chief and his family to the 'Happy Hunting Grounds,' " they said, "and has sent us this food as a symbol of their sacrifice."

They saved some of the kernels and planted them in the fields, and each year when they reaped a golden harvest they remembered the brave chief whose thoughtful care brought them the rich blessinc, of the Indian corn.