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The importance of one simple plant

The natives of America could trace the history of maize to the beginning of time. Maize was the food of the gods that had created the Earth. It played a central role in many native myths and legends. And it came to be one of their most important foods. Maize, in some form, made up roughly 65 percent of the native diet. When European settlers reached the New World, they learned to cultivate Indian corn from their native neighbors. By Terry L. SargentReprinted by permission from Tar Heel Junior Historian 38, no. 1 (Spring 1984): 11, copyright North Carolina Museum of History.