Planting and Weeding Corn: A Personal Reflection

By Judy Berkshire

For me, planting and weeding Tenskatawa corn at Prophetstown State Park was both a communal and spiritual experience.

The communal part came from working with people who began as strangers and ended as dependable co-workers who shared positive feelings for a job successfully completed. Part of this community were also long-time friends who came to celebrate my birthday on June 6 by sharing the corn planting experience. And of course there was my church community who came to sweat in the sun, making rows, planting seeds, and hoeing weeds because they wanted to participate in this worthwhile experience. Some saw this as a way to give back to the Shawnee tribal members who walked the land upon which our church is built. Others simply wanted to say "thank you" to Ryan and Andrea Conway for sharing their time and cultural experiences over the past six months.

When I am working in the soil, I often have what I would call a "spiritual experience." I seem to slip out of myself and into the process of digging, sifting, and smoothing soil. This becomes a way to communicate with the Earth and some of its smallest creatures.

The corn planting, however, was a much richer and deeper spiritual experience, made so by the Native Americans who brought their songs and ceremonies to launch the event. Around a large ceremonial fire we stood together while Ryan sang, chanted, and prayed in both Shawnee and English.

Next came the "smoke bath." The fire's smoke is believed to carry prayers and offerings to the creator and the spirit world, allowing the Shawnee ancestors to know that corn planting is happening again at Prophetstown and inviting them to return to this place once more. By embracing the smoke we could receive energy from the fire and send up our prayers to the Creator. The circle moved clockwise around the fire as each person approached, facing the East, or spiritual doorway, to connect with ancestors. Embracing the smoke and "washing" our arms, head, and body with smoke was the next step as we opened ourselves to connect with people on Earth and those who have moved on.

Monica Rafael, member of the Potawatomi Tribe, came into the circle with a small bucket of water.

The water, she told us, was gathered from the morning dew and rain. Next it was purified with a small branch of cedar. Monica sang to the water and to us and then came around the circle to each person, filling their hands with water. We sipped the water from our hands to draw in its strength and to prepare ourselves for the planting time before us.

Throughout the day, singing could be heard in the field. Singing to the seed. Singing to the ancestors.

Singing to the Creator and giving thanks for the day, the experience, and the Earth Mother that makes possible the life around us.