"When the federal government forced the Pawnee to leave the shores of the Platte River in the 1870s, the tribe took with it the corn seeds that had fed their people for hundreds of years.

The tribe tried to replant the seeds passed down by their ancestors in their new home in north-central Oklahoma.

They failed.

Then, about six years ago, a Pawnee tribal member sent some of the ancient corn seeds to a friend in Nebraska to plant near the Platte River in Kearney.

The seeds grew.

They grew into cornstalks as high as the tallest Pawnee, and they grew into a friendship between the Pawnee and their newfound seed partners. That friendship will culminate this summer in a Pawnee cultural exhibition to be held June 20 at the Great Platte River Road Archway."

Get the Story:
A tribe comes home (The Lincoln Journal Star 3/16)

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