The video focuses on a passionate individual who has a lifelong connection to plants, particularly corn, tracing her roots to the akitaru and the Pawnee people. She shares an emotional journey of preservation and cultivation of seeds that have been passed down through generations, originating from Nebraska. These seeds carry cultural and historical significance, symbolizing the endurance and survival of her ancestors during difficult times through relocation to Oklahoma.

Further, the video narratives detail collaboration between Pawnee community members and Nebraska farmers who share a deep appreciation for the corn's cultural heritage. Through partnerships, the Pawnee corn revival in Nebraska is showcased, fostering relationships between people of different backgrounds. The process of cultivating and sharing the corn reflects not only agricultural innovation but also cultural restoration and communal growth, strengthening ties with the past.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. germinate [ˈdʒɜːrmɪneɪt] - (verb) - To begin to grow or develop; to sprout. - Synonyms: (sprout, grow, develop)

It's just a really beautiful thing to me that decades later, we found a way for those seeds to still germinate, even if they were down to, like, a handful of seeds.

2. encampment [ɪnˈkæmpmənt] - (noun) - A place with temporary accommodations consisting of simple shelters, such as tents. - Synonyms: (campsite, camp, settlement)

There was a Pawnee encampment another mile south of them.

3. manicuring [ˈmænɪˌkjʊrɪŋ] - (verb) - To care for and maintain meticulously; to groom and refine. - Synonyms: (grooming, refining, tending)

This is a manicuring of a precious resource from a historical and spiritual base.

4. ancestral [ænˈsɛstrəl] - (adjective) - Related to or inherited from one's ancestors. - Synonyms: (heritage, traditional, familial)

The revival of corn cultivation offers insights into connectivity with ancestral lands and traditional foods.

5. reverence [ˈrɛvərəns] - (noun) - Deep respect or admiration towards someone or something. - Synonyms: (respect, admiration, veneration)

We use corn as most tribes do in every celebration. There is powwows, ceremonies, and there's just so much reverence to it.

6. extinction [ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən] - (noun) - The state or process of a species, family, or larger grouping being or becoming extinct. - Synonyms: (annihilation, demise, disappearance)

When we were on the verge of extinction, it was just a miracle that we found some of our corn.

7. ceremonies [ˈsɛrəˌmoʊniz] - (noun) - Formal events or rituals with a set of ceremonies or rites. - Synonyms: (rituals, celebrations, formalities)

Each fall, we travel to Nebraska to pick and prepare corn for our ceremonies and to restore our traditional diet

8. sporadic [spəˈrædɪk] - (adjective) - Occurring at irregular intervals; not continuous or steady. - Synonyms: (infrequent, irregular, intermittent)

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9. nut-like [nʌt-laɪk] - (adjective) - Having a flavor or texture similar to that of nuts. - Synonyms: (nutty, nut-flavored, seed-like)

And to me, it's got this really incredible nut like taste.

10. spiritual [ˈspɪrɪtʃuəl] - (adjective) - Relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things. - Synonyms: (sacred, religious, metaphysical)

Like I say, in a very spiritual way, it's become the connection with the Pawnee people

The Pawnee Seed Preservation Society Revive Ancient Ties to Ancestors - Seed Warriors - PBS

My mom said there wasn't a straight spoon in the house when I was a little girl, that I'd be outside digging all the time. I've been growing plants, it seems like all my life. The flowers that I use, they're still the same flowers that I was growing when I was a teenager. Everywhere I moved, I kept the seeds and kept growing them and kept collecting them.

My people, the akitaru, the Pawnee, didn't always live in Oklahoma. Our homeland was in the land that later became Nebraska. My great great grandparents couldn't take much that they took their sacred corn. We held onto that corn from that walk all the way from Nebraska down to Oklahoma. A really difficult, challenging time where many of our people were lost, but some of us still held those seeds then. It's just a really beautiful thing to me that decades later, we found a way for those seeds to still germinate, even if they were down to, like, a handful of seeds.

I like this one. We called it the knife chief corn, because we thought Dennis Knife Chief had cross pollinated corn or something. But he came up with this striped corn, this red, white striped, and about 6ft down, they found the buffalo skull. Well, a buffalo hadn't been there since 1863. And inside the buffalo skull was that seed. The corn didn't reach its full potential in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma soil weakened the seed, so our Pawnee put the seeds away. One of the first questions I asked is, hey, where's our corn? I mean, that's what we're known for.

It took a long while to answer that question. Our culture committee, our chiefs, asked families, and they would produce what they had. And some of it we couldn't get to grow because they. It was stored so poorly. But some were kept in bundles, and there'd only be 20 seeds in there. One day, I got an unexpected call from Nebraska that gave me hope that we could grow our corn again in our homeland.

I worked at the archway in Kearney over I 80. That teaches a lot of history about the trails and transportation. And I had natives telling me, you really need to teach more about the thousand years before that. So that's how I met Deb Echohawk, was I wanted to start a program about the Pawnee because we're in the homeland here in central Nebraska. So I wanted to have gardening as part of that, because I've always. I grew up on a corn farm, and I've always gardened.

She sent me just 25 seeds in 2004, the first year. And I planted them like we do. We plant corn in late April here in Nebraska. So I went out and did that, and I was all excited, and it all rotted in the ground. It was too early and too cold. So the next year, she sent 25 kernels. She said, I have 25 left. This is it. I can't part with the last 25. We have to be able to show our children what it looked like once.

Ronnie O'Brien. She's my little corn sister. In fact, I. We gave her her name in Pawnee. Yeah, I think she cried for days when that happened. We talk almost daily and sometimes several times a day. Other Nebraska farmers wanted to plant Pawnee corn, too. One was Dale Fight, a man that I would later call friend.

We wouldn't be here if it wouldn't have been for the Pawnee. Helping my family when they homesteaded just a mile south of here in 1869, there was a Pawnee encampment another mile south of them. It was the Pawnee. And they ended up trading food and things with them. And it's evolved into a love affair. Like I say, in a very spiritual way, it's become the connection with the Pawnee people. They are truly family.

This is a manicuring of a precious resource from a historical and spiritual base that is teaching us how we need to be in the future. It is teaching the next generation to see and to hear. Dale, you know, when his great grandparents, you know, homesteaded this place and how the Pawnees helped them through that winter, they felt they owed something to them Pawnees. It's pretty awesome that he still feels that way. I mean, that was a long, long time ago, you know, and things die off, you know, but that's still in his heart, in his family's heart, you know, to recognize that, that really tells me a lot about. About him and his family.

But they're really good people. Yeah. So it really makes a nice drink, and, you know, you don't have to eat it, just infuse it. Each fall, we travel to Nebraska to pick and prepare corn for our ceremonies and to restore our traditional diet. There's always a feeling for me when I am here with this land of being home, which, in a sense, maybe I feel a little bit silly to say, because I've never lived here, but it's true.

I love to remind Nebraskans that we were the first Cornhuskers. We're smiling more than we have in a long time. There's a little bit of teaching that goes into almost everything that we're doing. Yeah. It's been beautiful to see it all play out into a camp setting.

So this year, we're processing eagle corn. We've been working towards this moment for a long time to be able to serve eagle corn to the people at our dances, at our spring ceremonies, where everybody could try it, everybody could know what it tastes like.

I like the eagle corn to taste. Cause when we shell it, you know, just we get the whole thing. We're careful about how we take the kernels off the cob, but when you cook it, you know, we'll blanch roast it and then take it off the cob. But then when you cook it, it turns, like, super round, and it just kind of pops in your mouth. And to me, it's got this really incredible nut like taste. That's definitely my favorite.

And we like it when it looks like an eagle with its wings spread out. It's fun to find that design in there and a lot of other designs. It's just like an art show every day, you know, looking at all the different varieties.

Lots of prayers have gone into this corn in all phases of production. And anytime you pray to brings out the healing properties of plants, we've been putting wrong foods in our bodies. So if we get back to a food that our DNA, our bodies recognize, then, you know, hey, we're going to have healthier people. We use corn as most tribes do in every celebration. There is powwows, ceremonies, and there's just so much reverence to it.

When we were on the verge of extinction, it was just a miracle that we found some of our corn. I mean, what an adventure it has been. Mother corn is very, very, very sacred. To have something that was passed down generation to generation to generation, and we're still able to consume it, to taste it. It touches the soul to realize our grandmas, great grandmas, took care of this enough to supply us. I make it up close.

Pawnee Culture, Corn Revival, Agricultural Heritage, Global, Inspiration, History, Pbs