b'to preserving and sharing seed diver-sity. There are currently over 300 SeedA TRIBUTE TO CARL L. BARNES, JUNE 18, 1928APRIL 16, 2016 Stewards, says McDorman. The seed can also be purchased at Native Seeds/ By one of his students, Greg Schoen SEARCH. Collections Curator Sheryl Joy explains that definitely a large part ofCarl White Eagle Barnes was known for his years of work with heritage corn, enabling many Native tribes our income comes from seed sales andto reunite with their sacred seeds. Carl was of half Cherokee, half Scotch-Irish ancestry, born and raised in Glass Gem is by far the most popular. IfOklahoma. As a youth, Carl began to seek out his Cherokee roots, and to explore the knowledge of his ancestors consumers order this corn from us, thisand of Native American traditions in general. Much of this quest centered on the ceremonies surrounding supports us to expand the amount ofplanting, harvest and honoring of seeds. In the course of growing some older corn varieties, Carl began isolating seed we give away through our Nativetraits that matched up with traditional corns that had been lost to various Native tribes, particularly those American Seed Request Program and Community Seed Grants.peoples who had been relocated during the 1800s to what is now Oklahoma. He was then able to re-introduce She adds that with COVID-19 and thethese corn types to the Elders of those tribes, and their spread helped their people reclaim their cultural and hardships that many people are facingspiritual identities. Their corn was, to them, literally the same as their blood line, language and identity. this year, these programs have beenCarl went on to acquire and exchange other traditional corn seed from a variety of people he had befriended extremely busy and we expect that to continue. We grow most of the seed foraround the country. To those that he met, he became known by his spiritual name White Eagle. Through being our nearly 2000 accessions but we areof service with the seeds, Carl awakened to the more esoteric nature of corn and its mystical relationship to also expanding our network of farmer- human beings. This led to further insights, which he shared widely, inspiring many people over the years. His partners. philosophy and teaching could be summed up in three words he repeated so often: The Seed Remembers.Its clear that the story of this beauti-ful corn is far from over, and for his part,After the passing of his wife Karen in 2005, and later his son A.V. Barnes, Carl stepped back from public life and Schoen says hes very glad to haveencouraged the next generation to carry on the work of seed-keeping.been a part of its journey. He is also veryCarl will be remembered for his generosity, wit and humor, and for the seeds he passed to willing hands. These pleased that it has inspired so manywill continue to multiply beyond his time, to nourish and enrich the coming generations.people to appreciate the beauty of nature and to get into seed saving.SW28/ SEEDWORLD.COMFEBRUARY 2021'