Father of Corn A long, long time ago, a poor Ojibwa Indian lived with his wife and children in a distant part of Wyoming. As he was such a bad hunter, he was not very good at providing food and other things for his family. His chldren were too young to be of much help. But he was a good man with a kind and content disposition. He was always gratefulto the Great Spirit for everything that he nevertheless got to share with his family. His eldest son inherited his benign temper. This one soon reached the age when he wanted to go out hunting for his own Protectional Spirit. Every young indian boy wanted to try and learn his spiritual name and what kind of power his spirit would give to him. The eldest son had been obedient even since his childhood. He seemed thoughtful, considerate about others, mild-mannered and was always a joy to his family and his tribe. At the first sign of spring her built, according to tradition, a hut in a solitary place. He would be able to be in peace while searching in his dreams. He prepared his hut and himself and began at once his seven days of fasting. The first five days he entertained himself by wandering around the forests and the mountains. He examined trees, flowers and plants. This kind of physical activity made it posible to get a good sleep at night. His observations at daytime filled his mind with good ideas and dreams. More and more he wanted to find out how the trees, the plants and the berries and flowers grew. It seemed as if they grew in the wild, without much help from the Indians. He wondered why certain kinds were good to eat while others contained poisonous juices. These kind of thoughts came before him many times when he retired for the night in his hut. Secretly he wished to get a dream which would reveal what he could do to help his family and his tribe. "I think that the Great Spirit keeps watch ovefr everything and it is him that I have to thank for everything", he thought for himself. "I wonder if the Great Spirit could make it easier for all indians to get enough food without having to hunt everyday in order to have anything to eat." "I must try to find a way through my dreams", he thought. On the third day of fasting he stayed in his bed because he felt weak and dizzy. At times he thought that he would die. Then he dreamed that he saw a strong and beautiful young man coming down from the sky towards him. This man wore fine clothes in green and yellow colors and wore a plume with streaming feathers on his head. His every movement was plesant. "I have been sent to you", said the stranger from the sky. "The Great Spirit who has created everything in heaven and on earth wants me to be your Guardian Spirit so therefore I have come to put you to a test. The Great Spirit has seen everything that you have done to prepare yourself for your Search and he understands what is good ad valuable in your secret wish. He knows that you wish to find a way to make it easier for your family and your tribe. He appreciates that you don´t seek power to make war. I have come to show you how you can erach your highest desire. First of all, your name shall be Wunzh." The stranger told Wunzh to rise up and wrestle with him. This was the only way to reach his secret wish. As he was weak after fasting, Wunzh wondered how he ever wuold be able to wrestle with the stranger. He rose up to meet the challenge - determined to die if neccessary. The two of them wrestled. After a while, when Wunzh was almost completely exhausted, the stranger from the sky said: "It´s enough for today. I will return tomorrow to test you some more". He disappeared smilingly in the same direction as he had come. Next day at the same time he appeared again. Once more the two wrestled. Despite that Wunzh felt weaker than the day before, he took on hi task with zeal. However, his courage seemed to grow in reversed proportion to his diminishing physical strength. The stranger stopped just before Wunzh feel to the ground. "Tomorrow it´s your last chance. I encourage you to be strong, my friend, because this is the only way that you can reach your secret wish" the stranger from the sky said. Wunzh took himself to his cot, using the last of his strength. He prayed to the Great Spirit for wisdom and strength enough to endure to the end of his quest. And so they wrestled also on the third day. Wunzh was so weak that his arms and legs felt like rubber. But his inner determinism drove him onwards, with just the endurance which is needed to win. The same amount of time passed as on the two earlier days of wrestling. Suddenly the stranger stopped and declared himself conquered by Wunzh! Next the stranger from the sky went into Wunzh´s hut for the first time. He sat down by Wunzh and taught him how to proceed, in order to reach his secret wish. "The Great Spirit has granted your wish. You have wrestled like a man. Tomorrow it is your seventh day of fasting. Your father will visit you and bring you food. And as it is your last day of fasting, you will now succeed. Now let me tell you what you must do to win your final victory. Tomorrow we will wrestle once more. When you have conquered me for the last time, throw me on the ground and pull off my clothes. Then you must clean the earth from roots and weeds and make the soil soft. Then bury me in that very spot, cover me with the green and yellow clothes, and lastly with earth. When you have done this, then leave my body in the earth. Don´t disturb it. Come here now and then to see if I have come back to life. Mind that no grass or weed covers my grave but cover me once a month with fresh soil. If you do what I have said, you will be successful in your Quest for your Guardian Spirit. Then you will be able to help your family and your tribe and all Indians by teaching them what I now have taught you", the stranger ended. The shook hands and he left. On the morning of the seventh day, Wunzh´s father came, bringing some food. "My son, how are you feeling? You have fasted long enough. It´s seven days since you had anything to eat. You must not sacrifice your life. The Great Spirit doesn´t demand that from you." "Thank you, father for coming and for bringing me food. Let me stay here alone until the sun has set. I have my reasons". "Well, then I will wait for you at home until the hour of the sundown" siad the father and went away again. The stranger from the sky returned at the same time as before. The last wrestling match began. Wunzh had not eaten of the food his father had brought. But laready he felt a kind of new inner strength which somehow had ben given him. Was this Spiritual strentgh from his Guardian Spirit? Wunzh took hold of his opponent with supernatural strenth and threw him to the ground. He reomved the fine clothes and the feathered headpiece. Then Wunzh discovered that his friend was dead. He recalled all the instructions in detail and buried his Guardian Spirit on the very spot where he had fallen. He then followed all instructions exactly for he thought that his friend would come back to life again. Then he returned to his father´s hut at sundown. He ate sparingly of the meal prepared by his mother. Not for one moment could he forget the grave of his friend. All through spring and all summer long he visited it regularly. He kept the area meticulously clean from grass and weeds. He saw to it that the soils was soft and loose. Soon enough he saw sprouts of green feathers coming up through the soil. He noticed, that the more tended the plants, the faster they seemed to grow. Wunzh hid his doings for his father. Days and weeks passed. Summer neared its end. Then one day Wunzh invited his father to accompany him to the place of his Quest. He showed his father the graceful plants whichc grew there. They were now topped with yellow, silken hair and floating green plumes. Golden and green clusters of fruit adorned each side of the stems. "Father, these plants are from my dream-friend," Wunzh explained. "He is my Guardian Spirit, a friend of all humanity and his name is Mon-daw-min which means 'corn to all indians'. This is the answer to my Quest, the secret wishi of my heart. We will never again hunt for animals every day in order to eat. As long as we take care of this corn, the earth will give us food." Wunzh broke off the first cob of corn and gave it to his father. "Look, father; This corn is what i fasted for. The Great Spirit has been obliging my Quest. He has given us this wonderful new food - corn. From now on, our people don´t need to rely only on fishing and hunting for their survival." Wunzh spoke with his father and gave him all the instructions which he himself had received from his Guardian Spirit. He showed his father how to strip the corn cobs and how the first seed should be saved for future planting. He explained how the corn cobs should be held over the fire just long enough for the outer kernels to be brown and the inner ones to stay juicy and sweet. The whole family gathered for a corn festivity. The father led a prayer of thanksgiving for the rich and good gift from the Great Spirit. Wunzh felt happy that his Quest for his Guardian Spirit had come to a good ending.