#sehsapsingcorn

[seedkeeping]

Pulling out the best cobs for seed and the rest for food from our Sehsapsing Flint Corn harvest. Each of the 6 boxes represents the yield from a different seed source: our growouts from 2016, 2017, three different individual cobs from 2018, and seed from the USDA. We learned that the seed from 2016 and cob #3 from 2018 yielded the best quality and quantity (we will grow only from that stock next year), and the USDA seed was slightly crossed and unimpressive. It’s a Lenape variety, kept until 1985 by Nora Thompson Dean, an Unami Delaware/Lenape herbalist who dedicated her life to preserving the culture and traditions of her tribe. This variety was brought west to Oklahoma by her mother, Sarah Wilson Thompson. Many Lenape people moved west over hundreds of years, continually pushed onward by white settlers. Our original seed comes from William Woys Weaver and the Roughwood Seed Collection. We primarily grow this corn to rematriate it to Lenape people, and to its original territory. #sehsapsing #sehsapsingcorn #zeamays #seedkeeping #rematriate https://www.instagram.com/p/B25hHqpANfF/?igshid=1vs8d44vc3ajt

[seedkeeping]

It’s hot, but it’s cooler in the Sehsapsing Lenape Flint Corn (and in the creek and the seed room - other places Althea, Hannah, Amirah, Julia, Chris, and I took refuge in today after working in the extreme heat). Sehsapsing or Oklahoma Delaware Blue Flint Corn are breathtaking 7-inch cobs containing 8 rows of blue-black kernels that can be ground for flour, grits, and a traditional cornmeal mush called sapan. This corn is also known as Sèhsapsink, Lenape Blue Corn, and Oklahoma Delaware Black Flint and is an important variety to the Lenape people, whose original homeland covers what is now New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New York, and Northern Delaware. William Woys Weaver received seeds of this variety in the 1970s from both Gladys Tantaquidgeon (Mohegan medicine woman and ethnographer) and Walton Galinat (a Connecticut Yankee who specialized in native corn). The USDA received seeds of this variety in 1985 from Charles Dean, the husband of Nora Thompson Dean, an Unami Delaware/Lenape herbalist who dedicated her life to preserving the culture and traditions of her tribe. This variety was brought west to Oklahoma by her mother, Sarah Wilson Thompson. Many Lenape people moved west over hundreds of years, continually pushed onward by white settlers. If you are Lenape, please reach out so we can rematriate these seeds to you free of charge. #sehsapsing #sehsapsingcorn #seedkeeping #trueloveseeds https://www.instagram.com/p/BzOwo-BgU4H/?igshid=73rk5tde36la

[seedkeeping]

Sehsapsing or Oklahoma Delaware Blue is a blue/black flour corn grown by the Lenape people, who took the seed eventually to Indian Territory in Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears when they were forced out of their homeland in what is now New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, southern New York, and northern Delaware. I live and farm on Lenape soil, and to grow this maize in its original homeland is part of the rematriation of the seed. Next step: returning the seeds to Lenape growers. William Woys Weaver received seeds of this variety in the 1970s from both Gladys Tantaquidgeon (Mohegan medicine woman and ethnographer) and Walton Galinat (a Connecticut Yankee who specialized in native corn). #lenapefoods #sehsapsing #sehsapsingcorn #heirloomcorn #flourcorn #seedkeeping #seedsaving (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

Sneak peak at Sehsapsing. This is a Delaware black flint corn grown by the Lenape people, whose land I live and farm on now. The seeds were given to William Woys Weaver in the 1970s by both Gladys Tantaquidgeon (Mohegan medicine woman and ethnographer) and Walton Galinat (a Connecticut Yankee who specialized in native corn). It is still ripening up, but I had to take a look and a taste. #sehsapsing #sehsapsingcorn #zeamays #seedkeeping #gladystantaquidgeon #waltongalinat #lenapefoods #lenapefoodways #roughwoodseedcollection #williamwoysweaver (at Delaware County, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

My father-in-law puts seeds in his mouth before planting in order to acclimate them to what his body needs from them. My partner does it too, and now I do too. I feel like I can almost taste the vitality of the seeds, and these Sehsapsing corn kernels really felt alive. This is a black/purple Delaware variety grown by the Lenape people, whose land I live and farm on now. The seeds were given to William Woys Weaver in the 1970s by both Gladys Tantaquidgeon (Mohegan medicine woman and ethnographer) and Walton Galinat (a Connecticut Yankee who specialized in native corn). Excited to try them fresh and as cornmeal. #sehsapsing #sehsapsingcorn #zeamays #seedkeeping #gladystantaquidgeon #waltongalinat #lenapefoods #lenapefoodways (at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

Members of Raíces de Cambio came by Roughwood Seed Collection for "hardcore seed saving" and it was so fun and relaxing. They are a part of Norris Square Neighborhood Project, which promotes positive change through youth education, community leadership, green spaces, the arts, and the celebration of Latino culture. @myneighborhoodproject #roughwoodseedcollection #youngseedkeepers #hardcoreseedsaving #seedkeeping #sehsapsingcorn #sehsapsing (at Devon, Pennsylvania)

[seedkeeping]

An heirloom gardener and seed saver in New Hampshire sent us a donation to support our seed preservation work at Roughwood Seed Collection. As a thank you, we are sending seeds from an assortment of our Northern Flint Corn varieties, which he will isolate and maintain. From left: Sehsapsing kernels and cob, Blue Bear Dance kernels and cob, Red Cob Tuscarora kernels, King Philip cob and kernels (cobs just for display). Each of these have interesting and important stories and uses. #flintcorn #zeamays #sehsapsing #sehsapsingcorn #bluebeardance #redcobtuscarora #tuscaroracorn #kingphilip #kingphilipcorn #roughwoodseedcollection #seedkeeping #seedsaving #heirloomseeds #heirloomcorn