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Corn is Maize: The Gift of
the Indians
By Aliki Brandenberg
1976 Fitzhenry & Whiteside limited
33 pages
Isbn: 0-690-00975-5
Ages: 8 and
up
Rating: Harmful -
overly scientific and stereotypical
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Kernels of corn are planted, rained on and warmed
by the sun. Sprouting, a
stalk grows, leaves and nodes form and by mid summer the plants is taller
than a farmer. Scientists found 5000 year old kernels in a cave in South
America, the remnants of the ancient corn of the “Cave Dwellers”. The scientists believe that the original corn was pollinated
by toesinte, gradually creating the corn we have today. By the time
Christopher Columbus landed in the New World the “Indians” were expert
farmers using the it fresh, as meal, and for seed.
Book Review |
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The book is not written in a story form, it is
more of a scientific explanation of how corn came to be. Overlooking any
of the native beliefs or oral histories of how corn came to be.
Perpetuating the myth of the First Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and
Indians on page 26, is also one of the reasons for the average rating of
this book.
On the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and the
Indians together gave thanks for the corn harvest, as the Indians had done
long before. |
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