Indian corn

In the dust of the barn lot Papa had come across an ear of Indian corn.

But in the fall, it takes on the appearance of a one-stop seasonal shop: bundles of Indian corn speckled with jewel-tone purples, lemon yellows and deep auburn.

“This is our way of life. The Indian corn, we use that for several ceremonies. A lot of our Navajo people rely on the corn to get through the winter months.”

I have never seen an ear of corn so long or handsome, not jeweled like Indian corn, but elegant and talismanic.

Winslow wrote: “Our corn did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn.”