Corn among the Indians of the Upper Missouri

by George F Will

"An excellent work, covering in great detail all facets of the role corn played in the civilization of the Mandans, Omahas, Sioux, Pawnee, and other tribes. . . . A worthwhile guide not only to a facet of western agricultural history very rarely explored, but also of great value in its interpretation of Indian customs, dances, and ceremonies as related to corn."—Denver Westerners' Roundup.

Corn occupied an important place in the lives of many Native communities that lived along the Upper Missouri River. In this landmark book, George F. Will and George E. Hyde introduce readers to some fifty varieties of native corn discovered in the Missouri Valley. Equally important, they provide an indispensable overview of Indian agricultural techniques there, including methods of harvesting and storing the crop, the preparation of corn for food, and the role of the crop in intertribal and Indian-white trade. Corn was not only grown, traded, and eaten, it also had spiritual significance. A final contribution of this book is a discussion of the presence and value of corn in American Indian myth, religion, and ritual.

323 pp ~ illustrated — ©2002