The first weekend in October is always the annual Harvest and Husking Bee at Tsyunhéhkw∧ Farm. Located just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin on part of the Oneida Nation, Tsyunhéhkw∧ (joon-HEY’-kwa) is a tribally owned, organic, regenerative farm that focuses on growing Oneida white corn. The farm plants about 10 acres annually, which produces around 8,000 pounds of finished corn.
Oneida white corn–also known as Iroquois or Tuscarora white corn–looks a little different than its modern counterparts. This heirloom variety has pearlescent, pale butter-colored kernels and ears can grow as long as a forearm. Stalks can grow 18 feet high and 4 inches in diameter. Modern hybrids have more uniform stalk and corn cob sizes. There is no modern machinery that can harvest an 18-foot-tall stalk of corn. So instead, farmers must rely on much older methods: The entire crop must be harvested and processed by hand.
“The best piece of equipment for what we do is people,” I was told by Kyle Wisneski, manager of Tsyunhéhkw∧. In order to harvest that quantity of corn, about 500 people show up to help…