“We have the opportunity to build a Rainbow bridge into the Golden Age. But to do this, we must do it together with all the colors of the Rainbow, with all the peoples, all the beings of the world. We who are alive on Earth today are the Rainbow Warriors who face the challenge of building this bridge,"
~Brooke Medicine Eagle, Daughter of the Rainbow, Crow and Lakota ~
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Cornbread Ceremony
The cornbread Ceremony is a tradition in which is known as “gathering corn bread,” The ceremony is traditionally held at the end of the planting season, when the corn is ready to be stored. Thanks must be given for the food, just as it is at the beginning of the planting season. Nearly every family prepares by baking a batch of old fashioned corn bread to be brought to the Longhouse. At this gathering, a speaker congratulates the people on the success of their crop.
Thanks are given to the Great Spirit that the people have been well supplied. Two men perform the Great Feather Dance. Everyone then takes part in the Trotting Dance. A third dance is by females only (to thank the Great Mother and the Three Sisters). After these dances, everyone, including children, participate in a fourth dance by joining their hands. The women and men have the privilege of joining hands together. This is said to be like the mixing or joining of the seeds in the hills of corn. When corn is planted in the traditional way, kernels of corn are planted in little mounds along with bean seeds and squash seeds. Sometimes sunflower seeds are added to the mix.
Corn, beans and squash are referred to as the Three Sisters. When planted this way, the Three Sisters are thought to be working together to feed the people. It is an ingenious agricultural system. Corn provides a stalk for the bean vines to grow up around. Beans provide nitrogen to nourish the soil, helping the corn and squash to grow. Leaves of the squash provide a ground cover preventing weeds from crowding out the crop. When all the dances are done, the speaker thanks the people and the Creator that the people have gotten done with their duty. The speaker then reminds the people of the Midwinter Festival, which comes on the fifth day of the new season.
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Another type of traditional gathering is the husking bee. These may be held in individual homes where corn soup is generously served. The occasion is enlivened with dancing and storytelling. Games may be played such as one in which short pieces of corn stalk are piled up into a house-like structure. Individuals try to flip away single pieces one at a time without knocking down the others.
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Workers at a husking bee were always on the look-out for abnormal ears of corn. These have different meanings. A fascinating corn with branches resembling fingers is called “hand corn.” A multiple ear is a large ear with several smaller ones springing from it. It indicates that a girl will have many children. The rest of the huskers say “lots of young ones.” A red ear entitled the finder to one ear from each of the other huskers. The Onön:dowa’ga (Senecas, or “people of the hills) have enjoyed corn (onëö) for food and other uses. Ononya’ (corn husk) has been twisted, coiled, braided or wrapped to make masks, bottles, padding, mats, baskets and moccasins for generations. Ononya’ gaya’da (husk dolls) are made as play things, and also as a way valuable lessons could be shared with youngsters. Traditional ononya’ gaya’da do not have faces. One legend involves a lesson about an Indian maiden who was troubled with vanity. She could no longer see her reflection in a lake, until years later when she was old and wise and had learned the lesson of kindness.
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The delicious corn soup and other treats offered at the husking bee and other gatherings are an integral part of the festivities. Being fed by another person and being able to accept food from another is one of the most basic nurturing and trusting experiences, according to Anne Jernberg, founder of the Theraplay Institute. Because of this and other customs, many of the celebrations and Native traditions reflect what may be considered by some, as best practices for children in their communities and families. Jernberg and others emphasize that parents and children build better relationships through attachment-based play. It may well attest to the survival of many Native customs through the centuries, that healthy human development for all humans depends on being nurtured and developing trust. Native people integrate eons of trust-building activities including intergenerational sharing, nurture through food sharing, playfulness, fun, storytelling, prayer, games, dance and song, in their daily life and annual traditions.
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In addition, through many Native rituals and patterns of life, community and family experience interdependence with each other and the Great Spirit. Because of this, the giver trusts that food and other forms of nurture and care are sufficient, abundant, and available from external sources (nurturing adults, clan members, Great Spirit) and internal sources (self comforting, self nourishing, etc.)
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The husking bee and other such gatherings meet the needs of young and old alike. There exists a “built-in” structure which supports the whole community in their sensitivity and ability to be responsive to each other. Respect is an essential part of the teaching. Respect is paid to each other, the Great Spirit, and nature through soothing, hands-on, rhythmic activities. Individuals are provided ample opportunity to interact and engage with one another. Various challenges add to the fun. No one really loses, as everybody wins in the end with laughter enhanced closeness, an atmosphere of respect, and delicious food to share.