Maize – the Anthropologists point of view – interview with Lone Badstue anthropologist at CIMMYT Mexico in 2005.
Key words and phrases
Biodiversity, Seed exchange, seed saving, how seed is a living thing,
Perceptions of food around the world.
Seed – viable grain saved to be re-sown for a following crop.
Grain – as above – but harvested for consumption. It doesn’t necessarily
need to be selected to be viable to germinate if used for food – however if
sown the number of plants germinating may be lower than for seed unless
fresh. This has implications in Africa, where farmers buy grain from markets
where it is being sold as food and sow it to grow on as seed. The problem is
if your livelihood doesn’t depend on this the terms seeds and grain get blurred.
Background note
Maize differs from the other major global caloric food crops because it has to be cross-pollinate with wind blown pollen. It is unusual in the 21st century for traditional farmers to save and select their own land races of their crops – but this still happens in Mexico with Maize. The main difference with traditional maize farmers in Mexico is that the populations they raise are very dynamic and have always been so since the start of farming. They are introducing new seeds and reselecting the crop to reflect their needs. For example over a period of time (about a decade) many farmers selected maize with longer husks covering the cob and this affected this characteristic in the crop – to meet a growing export market for husks for tamales in the USA, created as young people moved to the USA to work. By contrast traditional land races of maize grown by North American Indians (such as the Hopi) have been
conserved by growing up seed populations, but without the introduction of new seeds from other varieties and re-selection. Families have great pride in the seeds of the varieties that they save and
reselect they do it because their ancestors did it. But the farming populations are aging and many of their children have left farming – many to go to the USA.
Significance of Maize in Oaxaca
Oaxaca is one of the oldest centres of continuous cultivation of maize cultivation. Maize was first domesticated about 5,000 years ago in Mexico. It has to cross pollinate to survive, so todays landraces of maize are a result of thousands of years of continuous human and environmental selection. We now rely on domesticated crops to survive, without them the human population would never have reached 6 billion. We rely on it, it relies on us. Ironically domesticated crops rely on us for their survival, non-more so than maize. If humans disappeared from the planet maize, which is one of the most important crops, which supply ¾ of the world’s calories, would disappear very quickly. Maize seeds are surrounded by a husk and without human intervention seeds in the cobs would be eaten by animals or be strangled as they germinate by the husk that acts like a shroud.
Women in Oaxaca – traditionally Nixtamalise maize at home
The maize seeds are Nixtamalisation at home by women (boiled with lime or wood ash over a wood stove). – The maize brought by the women to the mill are still moist – it is just sieved after this process.
Nixtamalisation – background
Use of lime or wood ash, may still be unusual in the developed world but is widely used in Latin America for a wide range of processes including the making of Chicha – a drink made from Maize
What is Nixtamalisation?
Developed by the Aztecs for seed treatment with wood ash and lime to soften the follicle around the grain to make it easier to role the seeds to make masa. Maize is boiled in a lime solution. After this it is washed. The softening of the seed coat – but the nutritional significance of making lysine and tryptophan available was only realised in recent times
Lost Global Significance
The Spanish observed maize being eaten – it appeared to be wholesome food – they took it back to Europe, but without the knowledge of Nixtamalisation. There was a famine in parts of Italy who ate polenta from maize, where without the Nixtamalisation, people didn’t get the full nutritional benefit of
maize they suffered malnutrition from unavailable amino acids which are locked up in the seed that hasn’t been treated with Nixtamalisation. This has remained a problem in African countries with a maize rich diet (where they suffer from Kwashiokor or Pellagra). With Nixtamalisation you can practically live on higher levels of maize in the diet.
The women waiting at the Maize mill in Oaxaca.
Mills in Oaxaca tend to be artisanal. Women go to the mill – men never do – to produces course dough – (Massa).
LB (Lone Badstue) “They meet and chat and gossip, each bringing their basket and wait in the queue, with their baskets of black maize’s and their red maize, yellow or white maize according to their needs and they chat and gossip. In the women’s world this is the important place. – This is the nice part of
the day. She is busy from early to late in a traditional system, washing, cooking, sweeping, cleaning, and feeding the animals all day – so this is the nice relaxing part of the day. Meanwhile you wait your turn.”
AO (Andrew Ormerod) “And do they talk about it?”
LB “Absolutely! – This is the forum for information about maize they talk about maize and about everything else of course!
Gossip
“Oh! Did you here?” Scandal! Scandal! Scandal! Village gossip! Gossip! Gossip!” “No! – What about ……but did you here about……?”
Maize info exchange
“When are you planting?” “Ooh! We are soon so plant – looking at the seed the other day.” “We won’t have enough this year because of (cococos) weevils or rats”. “Ah I won’t have enough seed now – What do I do? – Do you know anyone who has….”?
Women look at other peoples maize’s
“Ooh Wow – That’s a beautiful yellow you have there – What is it like?” The women asking the question may touch the dough as it comes out. “This is good”. She may observe someone else’s maize and think to herself – “No, No I don’t like that when it comes out of the machine”.
Some don’t like some colours. because it comes out with dirty masa. Preferences in Oaxaca. Some women only want white tortillas others like the yellow, others prefer red or black maize. Women talk about this. “No I don’t like the red maize because the tortillas comes out in such a dirty colour” “I don’t like the atoles of black maize – noh!”
Housewife’s talk – but they make a mental note of who brings what sort of maize. If you want to make say blue maize tortillas one day – “I will go with her she has beautiful black or blue maize”. (Both black and blue maize is used for blue tortillas). There is a lot of interest by the women in who has what seed and “Where do you grow your seed?”
Cooking preferences
Women are interested – Is that sort of maize good for tortillas? Women ask –
“Is it good for tortillas etc.?” A woman has an expert eye for Masa – She may scoop a bit of maize and try it.
Concern about contamination
Problems of women waiting in the queue to use the mill – between different batches of maize. May be most of the women have white maize but there are some with coloured seed, she may get annoyed if the mill isn’t cleaned out. One woman may say (second in line to use the mill) “Ah my white
tortillas”. Although they do obey the queuing system – you could imagine the following.
“Do you mind me going ahead of you – I am in a hurry” Actually she isn’t, what she is really saying is – I don’t want to get my Masa tainted by your coloured Masa! Some are OK about this – but other women may be annoyed but they never would get into a fight about this.
Mills are used to grind other things
Like chillies and beans (say for an event – say to mill a big pot of mashed beans). They also mill toasted cocoa and mixtures of spices (mixtures of cinnamon and sugar vary from family to family. “I don’t like too much cinnamon in my mixture”. It used to be ground by hand.
Harvest – Guys talk.
“When is the maize ready to harvest?” Men talk about maize at all times from about planting time through the whole growing season. “How is your maize coming on?” In Oaxaca people are obsessed with maize – its life – they talk about maize as we would talk about the weather to break the conversation about maize. “Did you plant?” “How’s the planting going?” “How is the weeding going?”
“Can you help – I need a team of oxen”. Because the first crop is maize, you may have others you talk about your work, and this is influenced by the agricultural calendar. “Have you help from the USA – have your children come back from the USA?” “Or have they sent money back to you”
The conversation may be about Gelagetsa
The concept of Gelagetsa. These are special events after harvest and approaching the New Year,
The concept of Gelagetsa – means sharing – sharing goods – exists in Oaxaca.
Gelagetsa – Gela = millpa Get = Tortilla Getsa = Tortilla in Zapotech. It depends on time after harvest.
Ever year there is a festival and dances in Oaxaca = sharing after harvest. It is used for sharing out – helping out. It is also used when – say your son is getting married – you call a Gelagetsa.
One may bring a tortilla, another may bring fillings for the tortillas or money, a third may offer to make tortillas. There are positive and negative aspects of Gelagetsa. Positively it is about giving and sharing.
Negatively it is about obligation – if someone gives you a bull you can’t give a turkey back in return.
Organising hierarchy of Gelagetsa
Your turn to be Myadomia – brotherhood thing (similar example in Guatemala). There may be one or two Myadomia – and below that in the hierarch you have other positions (capitans). If you are Myadoma and are poor – you have to borrow from family. The downside you owe lots of money. But it is your 15 minutes of fame equivalent – you are the big man for the whole week, It is up to individual villages to use political parties or customary organisations. This is a traditional way of organising society. In traditional system you start in a lower position and you move up the system. You have to organise the fiestas – fireworks music and food – these events can last 3- 5 days. As part of Gelegatsa – you all take part in gelegetsa
As part of Gelegatsa – you all take part in Gelagetsa
Mending roofs. Helping out with harvest. – Communal involvement – it is not clear if it is quicker and cheaper but it is a lot more fun. As hosts you provide food and smoke.
Sorting out maize
Seed processing after harvest. “How is the de-husking going?” Some will de-grain their maize
Others will store their maize on the cob.
AO. Do women play the key role in sorting out the maize?
LB. I am not sure if it is a key role but it is an important role. Two thoughts about this. Everyone sits down and has a go at de-graining the maize. Alternatively men look as if they are de-graining the maize but actually women are doing the work. In Oaxaca – whole families sit down and de-grain the maize; he wife, sister-inlaw etc. Some store their seed on cobs – and through the year – she may say “Oh this
is a beautiful cob” and she saves a sample of seed. Sometimes it can be done in between other activities. Mostly the seed (for sowing) is selected from the middle and top of the cob. The wise or good farmer takes the seed from the middle. When I asked the breeder they take the whole lot as seed.
Those that need seed at the time of harvest
If they are short of seed they ask other farmers. Or they may go down to the local shop and ask who has good maize. Unconsciously they look at other people’s maize as they travel around. They may open up a maize husk and look at the grain.
Buying maize
Asking is a bit tricky – it is a sign of failure – occasionally maize is stolen or bought as grain and sown as seed. – This could be because you are poor and don’t have enough seed. Some people may not have seed but they do have grain. “Do you know who have black maize seed?” “Do you have grain?” (Cultural difference between maize and grain). Concept of seeds – cleaner more uniform, no bugs – de-grained by hand only, some people have a view that seeds should be bigger. Grain to eat may sometimes be degraded by machine.
Dynamic system – Biodiversity Diversity in maize
In Oaxaca the system of seed saving has been dynamic for thousands of years. There are degrees of experimentation. Most are curious and at sometime all have experimented. People experiment and try out other maize from their community or from other communities. “I will try this I like the colour” – “Maybe I will try out a few rows”. People have been working somewhere else in Mexico or abroad (may be in the USA) and bring out maize to try. Often it doesn’t work – It sometimes doesn’t work from the same community as you get differences of a thousand metres. “Yulian acquired this maize because he was going to plant at different heights”. Locals know that the soil may be different on one side of the road compared to the other. “The soil is thicker or fatter, they refer to the colour or the water retentive nature of the soil, or the very poor soil”. If you are looking for seeds on the slopes – you look for seed that grows on thin, yellow, drought prone soils. There seems to be a perception – the fastest or least demanding is the red ones.
General perception as to what maize’s are the least demanding in terms of agro ecological conditions.
Red – rocky thin agro-ecologically poor conditions. Generally this is true although there are overlaps between different maize colours. This colour ranking also exists for maturity. Weevils attack all – but attack red and black first. You generally eat black first before the white.
Farmer’s production objectives
Is it for human consumption? Is it for the market
Consumption objective
Is it for tortillas, Possible way that GM maize has entered Oaxaca – if it has.
Farmers have a habit of picking seeds off the roadside and with curiosity
planted in their maize fields.
Cold and Warm/Dark and light. Waxing and Waning of the moon
Farmers don’t always talk about this information. (They don’t refer to this until you understand their culture this can take a long time to understand cultural information). Why is the lemon cold?
The logic behind it is interesting. Sometimes these beliefs have tragic consequences. A woman came in with a child that was ill with diarrhoea – and because the moon was in the wrong cycle the mother wouldn’t allow the child to be treated and it died.
How is Zapotec culture coping with modern life?
AO. How much does their culture go back to ancient times it does a lot?
LB. It goes back to ancient times. You don’t notice it at first and unless you get involved in the community for sometime. A lot of agronomist may come and visit and not notice at all.
The root of the community is?
Oaxaca is the most diverse in terms of indigenous groups. Zapotecs are the largest group. The different groups have different languages. Religious groundings – that might be different. There are traditional
differences between different groups some were more vigilant. Some variations in the position – you find Miadormia all over.
How we got to where we are from the past.
AO Is the culture changing rapidly because of outside influences?
LB Yes and No. Take Migration – in some parts of Mexico. If the husband migrates – he may do for several years. “You know he isn’t there but he is not on his own” But on the other hand it does bring money in, Today there are things that you can only do with money – which you used to do with barter.
Also – investment “This is for the kitchen” – “This is the roof of the new house” “This is for a pair of new bullocks”.
AO Guatemala is very similar – as very large populations exist – it doesn’t affect
them – You end up with hybrid cultures. Look at the ‘Day of the Dead’ poster – the institution is still there but ….. I think the Book Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre touched on Mexican society appearing to be Catholic culture – but scratch the surface a fraction and many pre Conquistador traditional practices still occur.
AO What about the schooling system?
LB. Yes celebrates the national things – once to foster modern life – wants to foster the modern science – doesn’t want to foster superstition, doesn’t foster traditional langues.
AO. Does the education thing threaten the traditional spiritual beliefs?
LB. Yes naturally.
AO. Is it a threat when people stop believing in the traditional ways?
LB. If you accept alteration – there is a celebration may be to the point of glorification – it isn’t a threat – it is a strong Mexican thing – people are proud of being Mexican. Although there is creeping Americanisation. For the Day of the Dead you dress up the alter you put up the pictures of the dead, fruit – you see new things on the altar – so it is the gradual evolution of the culture. If you see any changes – then yes it is a threat. But changes are not always a
threat.
AO. What is the situation with youngsters in relation to farming?
LB. Not positive – they don’t see any future in it. It isn’t smart to be a farmer – same around the world.
Most people who migrate are younger 20’s or younger. Children have more opportunities than their grandfathers. In Oaxaca – there is a term “Pulverisation” – land is getting smaller (You can’t do a lot with half a hectare of land. It’s problem having a smallholding.
AO. Often we bemoaned the fact that
LB. Yes it is a problem if there are no farmers – but I don’t think that everyone can farm.
AO. Going back to the fact that youngsters are leaving the land – is it a threat to diversity?
LB. We believe the system is resilient – it isn’t a problem if you are looking for seed. However that is the situation at the moment. In the future if fewer people are farming you may well have fewer providers of seeds and a risk to diversity.
AO. What can you do to stop this?
LB. Some voices suggest – community seed bank. But we do not think this is a
good idea – because if you are a good farmer you do not loose your seed. OK sometimes you can loose some seed because of drought – people are particular about seed. “This seed – Oh no this seed is special”
AO. How did you know that the quality is good? Who would go to the community seed banks if you loose your seed?
LB. The good farmer will be reluctant“Are no – this is could for posole”. You would have to have an account for everyone in the village. If you went to other places where they were less obsessed with their sources of seed.
Information flow – Making diversity accessible to local farmers
CIMMYT did a big collection from the central valley of Mexico and characterised maize. 152 were selected out and planted out in plots in 15 villages. There was a lot of interest from both men and women. We can’t produce seed of 152 lines. All of them got a vote, CIMMYT and INIFAF selected out
17 lines for seed production for locals to have access to (different colours and characteristics. People could see different materials and buy seeds of the best lines. There was a lot of interest – there were over 1000 farmers buying seed – but only small amounts to mix in their existing seeds. One idea was to arrange events every 4-5 years – varieties selected were based on voting and on the great diversity between lines.
Genetic diversity of maize –
The incorrect view – It isn’t what the maize looks like – it is what it is like at the genetic level to
maintain diversity. Here – “Maize changes all the time”. Breeders have the idea of making a modern variety with certain traits and they (the local farmer’s) aren’t going to change it are they????
AO. Yes!!!!
LB. – Yes of course they are!!!
This interview with Lone Badstue took place at CIMMYT in 2005 just after she had finished her research and completed her PhD thesis and I think just shortly before her viva so was very fresh in her mind.
© Andrew Ormerod. 2022.
Cornucopiaalchemy 