Current:Home > NewsPoinbank:Spring rains destroyed a harvest important to the Oneida tribe. Farmers are working to adapt -FinanceMind
Poinbank:Spring rains destroyed a harvest important to the Oneida tribe. Farmers are working to adapt
Fastexy View
Date:2025-04-07 10:49:31
This spring,Poinbank a torrent of rain sent a river rushing over a field on the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin, destroying most of what was in its path, including the traditionally important crop of white corn.
Families tried planting a second time, but it was too wet; many seeds dissolved in the water-soaked soil. The corn that did sprout was patchy and stunted.
It looked “anemic,” said Lea Zeise, one of the coordinators of Ohe·láku, a non-profit that works with the families planting crops. “Really skinny and really frail.”
Members of Ohe·laku, a non-profit that works with the families planting crops, pick white corn in its early form known as green corn during a harvest on the Oneida Indian Reservation on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Oneida, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Lea Zeise, one of Ohe·laku’s co-coordinators of the non-profit that works with the families planting crops, examines a cob of white corn in its early form known as green corn during a harvest on the Oneida Indian Reservation, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Oneida, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
A few members picked what remained at the end of August in its early form, known as green corn, but it was barely enough to go around. There will be none of their white corn in the annual food boxes sent to tribal elders next year. And the harvest moon event, traditionally an important time for ceremonies and community gathering, has been canceled.
It’s a stark reminder of the uncertainty in store for Indigenous growers as the planet warms and as seasonal weather patterns become more unpredictable. There will likely be many hard years threatening the food that ties Oneida people to their culture, the land and each other. Oneida white corn stewards and other Indigenous growers want to adapt, and are proactively incorporating sustainable land management techniques like using cover crops to try to improve soil health and bolster their land against future droughts and floods. But years like this one remind them that it won’t always be enough.
“We’re really up against some pretty serious odds with climate change. There’s a lot at stake. And so it feels very personal,” Zeise said. “It’s very hard not to go out to the field and feel just deeply sad.”
Members Ohe·laku, a non-profit that works with the families planting crops, walk through a field of white corn, heavily damaged by spring rains, as they harvest the corn in its early form known as green corn on the Oneida Indian Reservation, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Oneida, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
______
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series of on how tribes and Indigenous communities are coping with and combating climate change.
______
White corn is more than just a food for Oneida people; it’s part of their creation story and a relative to be cared for. It’s also an annual, seasonal reason for people to come together, which was the philosophy behind Ohe·láku, which translates to “among the cornstalks.”
Braiding corn husks is the favorite activity of 10-year-old Lucia Stevens, who was crowned Lil’ Miss Oneida this year and whose Oneida name Tehwahshútyahks means “she breaks the night.” She’s been joining the white corn harvest for about as long as she can remember, but this was the hardest year she’s seen in her lifetime, her mother Stephanie said.
“We tried our best,” Lucia said. “The reason why we didn’t get that much corn is because it kept getting too hot days, and then it kept getting too rainy days, and it kept going back and forth like that.”
Stephanie Stevens and her daughter Lucia Stevens pick white corn in its early form known as green corn during a harvest on the Oneida Indian Reservation, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Oneida, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Damage from heavy spring rains is visible in the field of white corn on the Oneida Indian Reservation, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Oneida, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Zeise and her mother Laura Manthe, who helped found the organization, said that by growing corn communally, families can learn from each other. They can all chip in on the labor-intensive processes of sowing, weeding, picking cobs by hand, winnowing to separate the chaff from the grain and other tasks, Manthe and Zeise said. The group can also still have a substantial crop even if the animals get to some of it, and they have a better chance of surviving extreme weather events if they’re growing on a larger area of land.
But even growing together was no match for this year’s spring inundation. Drive around Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan and there are a lot of farmers “whose corn looks horrible,” Manthe said. But commercially grown corn, which uses more uniform varieties than heirloom ones and is often genetically modified, is looking pretty good this time of year, she said.
Lea Zeise, one of Ohe·laku’s co-coordinators of the non-profit that works with the families planting crops, picks a cob of white corn in its early form known as green corn, during a harvest on the Oneida Indian Reservation on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Oneida, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Lea Zeise, one of Ohe·laku’s co-coordinators of the non-profit that works with the families planting crops, right, and Stephanie Stevens bag up corn after picking white corn in its early form known as green corn during a harvest on the Oneida Indian Reservation, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Oneida, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Oneida and commercial farmers take different approaches to dealing with smut, too — a type of fungus that can grow on corn. While many commercial growers consider it a disease to be eradicated, some Mexican growers use it for cooking and consider a delicacy. Ohe·láku members have taken inspiration and are just starting to use it as the wetter seasons make it more prevalent, but by this time the corn smut is already too mature to use.
Becky Webster, who grows with Ohe·láku, is also executive director of another Oneida farmstead and non-profit Ukwakhwa, where she plants white corn in smaller plots and in two different ways. Some of it she plants in rows, and some of it in a method called Three Sisters, where corn, beans and squash are all planted together in mounds. She said the Three Sisters corn wasn’t flooded out because it was protected by the mounds, but that an unseasonably late wind storm blew over many of the stalks. She thinks it’s still salvageable but not in a great position. And she can’t remember ever seeing weather this wild.
“Our springs were pretty steady before, aside from storms here and there. But we’ve had to deal with extremes. Last year was extreme drought and this year was extreme rain,” Webster said. She added that it’s harder to anticipate which planting methods might be most effective, and described how it’s been a challenge to save seeds strategically because the ones that did well in a wet year won’t do as well in a dry year and vice versa.
Robin John roasts cobs of corn as other members of Ohe·laku, a non-profit that works with the families planting crops, shuck cobs of corn before they are roasted, cut and bagged on the Oneida Indian Reservation, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Oneida, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Lea Zeise, one of Ohe·laku’s co-coordinators of the non-profit that works with the families planting crops, bags roasted white corn during a harvest on the Oneida Indian Reservation on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Oneida, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
All the Oneida growers stressed the importance of leaning on traditional farming knowledge, of further importance because many tribal members have been cut off from their own culture. It’s a way of returning to their roots after families lost land to colonizers, children were forced to attend boarding schools and land was leased or sold to non-Indigenous farmers. But reviving past knowledge is made harder by the new seasonal unpredictability.
“Even if we did know everything our ancestors learned, we’re having to do it in an erratic and changing climate,” Webster said.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Ph.D. candidate Daniel Hayden thinks more research will be needed to understand the science behind sustainable Indigenous farming techniques that go back generations. He’s been working with Ohe·láku for several years now trialing sustainable methods like interseeding cover crops, which involves planting other crops in the same field to improve soil health, balance moisture levels and prevent erosion. It’s a work in progress, and this year it wasn’t enough to keep the majority of the corn from getting washed out, though his research plot of white corn did make it.
He acknowledged that while Oneida growers are willing to focus on stewarding land and improving soil health — not necessarily maximizing yields — commercial farmers have different priorities. He hopes his research will amplify the conversation about including Indigenous practices in mainstream agriculture, something he doesn’t think has gotten enough attention yet.
As Webster put it, “The Indigenous practices are no longer plan B, it has to be the plan. Because we are very mindful of all of the things around us.”
___
Follow Melina Walling on X at @MelinaWalling.
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
veryGood! (433)
Related
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- From Chinese to Italians and beyond, maligning a culture via its foods is a longtime American habit
- US filings for unemployment benefits inch up slightly but remain historically low
- Katy Perry takes aim at critics, thanks Orlando Bloom for 'doing the dishes' in VMAs speech
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- Fantasy football rankings for Week 2: Players to sit, start
- Linkin Park's new singer Emily Armstrong explodes in Los Angeles concert tour kickoff
- Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- 2024 MTV VMAs: How Nicky Hilton’s Kids Fangirl Over Aunt Paris Hilton
Ranking
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- North Carolina’s public universities cut 59 positions as part of a massive DEI overhaul this summer
- Ex-Indiana basketball player accuses former team doctor of conducting inappropriate exams
- Taylor Swift Gives Enchanting Shoutout to Boyfriend Travis Kelce in 2024 MTV VMAs Speech
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Margot Robbie makes rare public appearance amid pregnancy reports: See the photos
- Remains found in car in Illinois river identified as 2 men who vanished in 1976, coroner says
- Madison LeCroy Says Your Makeup Will Last Until Dawn With This Setting Spray, Even if You Jump in a Lake
Recommendation
Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
Shopping on impulse? Most of us make impulse buys. Here's how to stop.
Jordan Chiles gifted bronze clock by Flavor Flav at MTV Video Music Awards
DHL sues MyPillow, alleging company founded by Mike Lindell owes $800,000
Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
Warm oceans strengthened Hurricane Francine and could power more Fall storms
Nikki Garcia files to divorce Artem Chigvintsev weeks after his domestic violence arrest
DHL sues MyPillow, alleging company founded by Mike Lindell owes $800,000