Plains Indian Studies - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Shelling Corn in the Prairie-Plains:
Archeological Evidence and Ethnographic Parallels
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the contemporary, ethnographic,
historic, and archeological evidence for
the use of freshwater mussel shells as implements
in shelling green corn. Today the Mesquakie
Indians of central Iowa harvest green corn in the
late summer. The green corn is parboiled and
then shelled off the cob by using clam shells
collected from the Iowa River. At present this
practice is documented for eleven Native American
groups in the Prairies and Plains extending
back to the period of first observations by the
French. Similar freshwater mussel shell artifacts
are found in Oneota archeological sites along the
Des Moines River along with evidence for the
growing, harvesting, storing, and processing of
corn. Comparable objects are noted in other Iowa
sites, as well as some in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska,
South Dakota, and North Dakota. The
documentation of this practice for nearly 1000
years into the present is symbolic of the many
continuities of IMative American traditions in the
face of so-called assimilation by Euro-Americans.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.—^Juanita Pudwill is presently
a teacher in the North Wind Warriors
Program, an innovative Title IV funded Native
American educational project in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. I am indebted to her not only for first
bringing to my attention the use of clam shells as
corn shellers and thus providing the spark for this
David Mayer Gradwohl, Department of Sociology and Anthropology,
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011.
beyond the Pun
David Mayer Gradwohl
135
paper, but also for being my challenging student,
patient teacher, and understanding friend.
I would like to thank Frank and Adeline Wanatee
(Mesquakie Indian Settlement, Tama, Iowa)
and Mary Goose (Des Moines, Iowa) for sharing
information with me concerning contemporary
methods of shelling green corn at the Mesquakie
Settlement. My gratitude is also expressed to
Martha Royce Blaine (Oklahoma Historical Society,
Oklahoma City), Dolores Gunnerson (Lincoln,
Nebraska), David M. Hovde (South Dakota
Archaeological Research Center, Fort Meade
South Dakota), Douglas R. Parks (Mary College,
Bismarck, North Dakota), Mildred Mott Wedel
and Waldo R. Wedel (Smithsonian Institution)
for pointing out ethnographic references for the
use of shell. R. Stanley Riggle (Iowa State Historical
Department, Iowa City) deserves many
thanks for somehow finding the time beyond his
gargantuan work schedule to identify the species
of mussel shells considered in this paper. Sandra
Wright (formerly with Iowa State University) is
thanked for typing the final manuscript. Finally,
I extend my deepest appreciation to Nancy Osborn
(Iowa State University, Ames), who has
assisted in a myriad of tasks in the field and
laboratory and has, on the basis of her extensive
knowledge of Native American food resources
and preparation, provided valuable suggestions
and criticisms as this project progressed.
The investigation of the Oneota sites was part
of a cooperative salvage archeological program