Green Corn Ceremony

The Green Corn Ceremony was the high religious and social ceremony of a number of American Indian peoples of the Eastern Woodlands, and was practiced in ancient and modern times. This sacred ceremony occurred during the fist new moon following the corn harvests. The ceremony was marked with dancing, feasting, and religious dances.

Among the Cherokee people, the ceremony honored Se-lu, the Corn Mother. The actual name of the ceremony in the Cherokee language was Ah-ga-we-la Se-lu-ut-si which means "old woman corn mother".

The Green Corn Ceremony in ancient times lasted for four days in large townships, and for two days in smaller communities. The ceremony was comprised of sacred dances which were performed by the dancers within the sacred circle. The cermemony would begin with all the members of the town going to a running body of water right before sundown. The men and women would separately wash and annoint the seven places. When the last sight of the sun had set, and twilight was descending, the ceremony would begin. The sacred dancers were selected from young men and women from each clan, and wore sacred garments made from white buckskin.

Within the sacred circle, a deep pit would be dug and a branch of thunderwood (wood from a tree struck by lightening) would be lit and used to bless the grounds for the ceremony. The coals from this thunderwood would be used to kindle the sacred fire in the pit in the center of the circle. Each person present in the township would extinguish their home fires and approach the sacred fire and state their clan and their name to the fire.

The dancers would then perform several rounds of sacred dances which typically lasted from 2-4 hours. At the end of the first night of the ceremony and dances, all the people would take coals from the sacred fire in the circle and would enter the circle and visit socially together. The new home fires for the year would then be kindled from the spirit of the sacred fire blessed by the thunder beings.

In many townships, all the residents would bring out their furniture and shared living items and burn them in the center of the community as a symbol of renewal of the new corn harvest. They would then remake new furniture and shared items for their clan dwellings.