is of half Cherokee, half Scotch-Irish ancestry and was born in the
family's original farmhouse about a half-mile from his current home.
His father had moved the family west, where they acquired land and set
up farming on the High Plains. Carl spent his childhood on this
homestead, and the family lived through the 1930s Dust Bowl years,
staying to survive the ordeal rather than leaving as many did at that
time in our history.
To a seed geek like myself, Carl L Barnes was a hero. We were sad to hear of his passing on April 16th, 2016.
friends, and the seed saving community mourn the passing of Carl
'White Eagle' Barnes, who died in Grove, Oklahoma on Saturday morning,
April 16. Carl was known for his years of work with heritage corn,
enabling many Native tribes to recover and reunite with their sacred
the course of growing some of the older corn varieties still being
farmed at that time, Carl began noticing ancestral types of corn
re-appearing in his crops. As he isolated these, he found many of the
variants to match up with traditional corns that had been lost to many
of the Native tribes - particularly those peoples who had been
relocated during the 1800s to what is now Oklahoma. Thus, he was able
to re-introduce specific corn types to the elders of those tribes,
and this helped their people in reclaiming their cultural identities.
The corn is, to them, literally the same as their blood line, their
language, and their sense of who they are." Continue Reading
beautiful blend of brightly colored long ears, wonderful for fall
decorations, and is great for popping. This beautiful corn was selected
by Carl Barnes, a world-renowned Cherokee corn collector from
a diversity of gorgeous translucent, jewel-colored ears, each one
unique. A stunning corn variety selected over many years by Carl
Barnes, a part-Cherokee farmer and breeder from Oklahoma. Selected from
crossing several traditional corn varieties and saving seed from the
vivid, translucent kernels. Size of ears range from 3-8 inches