HMN 2024: Thanksgiving Corn |

German “korn”

Source: günter/Pixabay

Between the annual handprint turkeys and the recounting of Pilgrim hardships, the lore of how Thanksgiving came to be an American tradition is hardly a secret. What is less well known is how decorative ears of dried corn—and cornbread stuffing—came to be ubiquitous elements of the seasonal celebration.

In the beginning

Although Thanksgiving was officially declared a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the three-day harvest festival that brought together the settlers of the Plymouth Colony and the Wampanoag people in the Autumn of 1621 is often symbolically considered the first Thanksgiving feast. Without the agricultural knowledge shared by Native Americans, though, that feast might have looked very different.

The previous winter had left Plymouth Colony with severely dwindled supplies, and many colonists died. Native Americans, including the Wampanoag, provided food and critical farming guidance, teaching the settlers what to plant and how to cultivate it.

Among these essential crops was “mahiz,” which settlers later called corn. The Taino people of the Caribbean originally used this word, which evolved into the Spanish “maíz” (maize). Corn became crucial for the colonists’ survival.

From grass to corn

Corn originated from a wild grass called teosinte, first cultivated in Mexico nearly nine thousand years ago. Its cultivation had spread across North America by the time colonists arrived. The Pilgrims likely had some familiarity with maize, however, as it had been introduced to Europe earlier, brought back by Spanish explorers such as Christopher Columbus.

The word “corn,” on the other hand, comes from the Germanic word, “korn,” which meant simply a grain of any type. Interestingly, the word “grain” and the word “corn” are thought to have developed from the same ancient Indo-European root, ger-, which morphed into “grain” via Latin, and “korn” vis an early Germanic language.

At the time of the Pilgrims, English speakers commonly used the word “corn” in reference to whatever grain was locally grown in an area. Native American tribes often had heritage maize varieties that they had uniquely and specifically cultivated over time. So, the colonists referred to this locally grown grain as “Indian Corn.” Eventually, “Indian” was dropped from the name, and it became known to Americans simply as “corn.”

The Thanksgiving Table

There are scant written records from the time of the Plymouth feast in 1621, but the few that exist from that era suggest that some form of corn meal mush was likely part of the very first Thanksgiving meal, along with wild fowl. Today’s pairing of turkey and cornbread stuffing is a modern throwback to this menu.

Those colorful dried corn cobs that have come to decorate tables and doors continue the association of corn with abundance and the harvest season as first experienced by the New England settlers and the Wampanoag.

While Thanksgiving honors the early rapport between Native Americans and settlers, history tells a more complicated story. The same corn that sustained early colonists also led to conflicts. For instance, in the Jamestown colony, the Powhatan grew weary of settlers’ demands for corn, leading to the Anglo-Powhatan Wars. A temporary peace followed when Pocahontas married settler John Rolfe, but tensions persisted.

Giving Thanks

Though its story might not always have included community and kindness, on that first Thanksgiving, corn offered fellowship, sustenance, and even the means for longer-term survival. While it may no longer be as requisite to the modern meal as pumpkin pie, its remarkable history should always give it a place at the Thanksgiving table.