Corn Flower on the Great Plains

Book excerpt: In this second book in the series based on the four seasons, Corn Flower, an eleven-year-old Native American girl and a member of the Kansa tribe living along the Cottonwood River in the 1820s, is proud that her father White Plume has been selected as a tribal chief. With the guidance of two older tribal women, she also takes great pride in learning the skill of wild crafting to find herbs, roots, and leaves to use as medicines. After the harvest celebration of the corn crop, the members of the tribe head out to hunt for the great, shaggy bison. With the success of the hunt, much meat is prepared by all members of the tribe for the cold, winter months. One day while tending her herd of goats, Corn Flower and her best friend Night Sparrow find a stray horse wearing a saddle alone on the prairie. To discover the owner, Corn Flower and Night Sparrow travel to the trading post with their fathers White Plume and Red Branch. After leaving the trading post, Corn Flower nearly drowns while trying to return the lost horse at the nearby soldier fort. Saved by her father, she listens to White Plume’s story of how he came to know Kicking Swan and married her. The whole tribe rejoices with a naming celebration for a little girl of the tribe and for the marriage of Corn Flower’s brother Wanji to the maiden Running Dove. The story ends with the first heavy snowfall and a fun time in the winter whiteness with her brothers Red Cloud and Two Bears. Includes Readers Guide.