AZ Daily Sun: "Farm to School" a Rez Model

Dec 1st, 2013

"The cornfield was once a place of sacred learning for the Navajo. It is central to many traditional tales and teachings.

Ancient peoples practiced subsistence agriculture alongside the Little Colorado River for hundreds of years, growing corn, beans and squash to feed themselves.

The white, yellow and blue corn each had its own purpose. The stalk appears in emergence stories as a staple of life. And the corn pollen is used in sacred ceremonies.

But as many cornfields have gone dormant across the Navajo Nation, that connection to the land has been eroded. Now an effort is under way to reforge those bonds."