Blue Corn

In the 2019 growing season, Land-Grant helped the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) build three raised garden beds for the Reconciliation exhibition.

Reconciliation responds to the transformation and the ending of “La Entrada” as part of the Santa Fe Fiestas in 2018. This reenactment depicted a particular version of the late 17th century “reconquest” of the region by Spanish authorities, following the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Although the event was never universally accepted, and had been resisted for decades, in 2017, protests escalated nearly to violence. Following careful negotiations the pageant was discontinued in 2018.

As part of the Reconciliation exhibition, Land-Grant assisted MoCNA Preparator Mattie Reynolds (Choctaw) and IAIA students with construction and planting of three raised garden beds located in MoCNA’s Northeast courtyard. Reconciliation curators requested that the garden only include North American Indigenous plants. The three raised garden beds were setup as a “Three Sister’s Garden” which included blue corn, summer squash, and beans. At harvest, the blue corn grew to be over 13 feet tall. The soil mix consisted of three parts topsoil to one-half parts Moonshine Compost mix.

—Teresa Kaulaity Quintana (Kiowa)