**1. Introduction**

Native communities of the highlands of Mexico domesticated Wild Corn or *Teosinte* (*Zea mays* spp.) between 5500 and 4000 years ago. About 6000 years ago, societies across Mesoamerica began consuming Maize as well as other domesticated plants such as beans and squash [1]. The domestication of Maize (*Zea mays* L.) by Mesoamerican communities marked the beginning of sedentary life for many groups of people. Archeological records indicate that the oldest maize cobs were found in Guilá Naquitz Cave dating 6250 years ago [2].

In Wixárika ways of knowing, the oral tradition indicates that Watakame, the first farmer, received *Yuawima* ("Blue Corn Maid") from Tatéi Takutsi Nakawé

(Our Grand Mother Growth). Since their first encounter, the two (Watakame and Yuawima) have been part of the same field of relations. Watakame cultivated Yuawima and Yuawima grew more seeds in the field in exchange for offerings. In this reciprocal relationship, Watakame received a set of instructions, protocols, and principles to follow Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) or local understanding of the environment and the applicability of this knowledge in daily life [3–5]. Menzies argues that "TEK is an embodied practice directly rooted in everyday livelihood activities" (88). The oral tradition such as the case of Watakame is more than a cultural framework for Wixárika knowledge. This oral tradition contains knowledge (a set of protocols and principles to interact with the environment) that people developed. In consequence, specific ways of relating with the environment developed with daily activities.

According to the oral tradition, Watakame was unable to follow the first instructions and therefore, *Yuawima* returned home. Later, Watakame made the commitment to cultivate and harvest Our Mother Corn following the initial instructions.1 Today, many families continue following those first instructions, the protocols of coexistence, and the principles to cultivate and harvest Tatéi Niwetsika ("Our Mother Corn"). Families gather to cultivate using only the *Kuwa/Wiika* (*"coa,"* "*pichuaca,"* or *"*Traditional planting stick"), an agricultural tool with a wide and thick blade, sometimes curved, inserted into a wooden handle. In the center of the field, the families create small Wixárika microcosmos to deposit offerings. The *Teiyari* ("Center of the field" or "Heart of Our Mother Corn") contains a sample of the seeds for cultivation. In the field, Wixárika families coexist with La Milpa and re-create in every cycle a series of embodied practices such as cooking, cultivation, and ceremonies to maintain and sustain a reciprocal relationship with Our Mother Corn and the five Corn Maids [7]. All the embodied practices (e.g., cultivation, harvest, ritual, and cooking) surrounding the growth of Maize are pieces of ecological knowledge that transmit the balance interaction between people and the environment.

In La Sierra Madre Occidental, Wixárika families cultivate five different variants of Native Corn (Blue, White, Pink, Yellow, and Multi-color). For example, some families from El Roble cultivate *Tsinawime* ("Multi-color"), *Tekuleti* ("Blue"), *Pipitiyu* ("White"), *Ta + rawime* ("Pink"), *Taxawime* ("Yellow"), *Yek + ri tuxa* ("Orange"), and *Tse' + ri* ("Yellow with elongated") [7]*.* In Y + rata, families cultivate Yuwima ("Blue Corn") in the South, *Tuxame* ("White Corn") in the North, *Ta + lawime* ("Pink Corn") in the West, *Taxawime* ("Yellow Corn") in the East, and *Tsayule* ("multi-color Corn") in the center. In the work of Victor Antonio Vidal Martínez et al., an expert on Corn in the state of Nayarit, the author reports that 13 Native species of Corn come from the state of Nayarit. Seven of them are primary species: Tabloncillo, Elotero de Sinaloa, Blando de Sonora, Bofo, Elotes Occidentales, Tuxpeño, and Vadendeño. Six of them are secondary species: Tabloncillo x Tuxpeño, Tuxpeño x Tabloncillo, Elotes Occidentales, Tabloncillo x Olotillo, Tabloncillo x Blando de Sonora, and Elotes Occidentales x Elotero de Sinaloa [8].

With the information received in TEK, the Wixárika community maintains a reciprocal relationship with Our Mother Corn and conceived Native Corn from El Gran Nayar as a relative [7]. Additionally, the community cultivates and harvests Our Mother Corn in ways that do not alter the land's natural processes. This includes slash-and-burn and polyculture. Many studies have shown that Indigenous communities continue ancestral agricultural practices that include following a ceremonial cycle

<sup>1</sup> Personal interview with Lemus and Zing [6].

#### *Teachings of Tatéi Niwetsika: Native Maize from Northern Mexico DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112629*

for the cultivation of different crops [9–15]. For the cultivation of Native Corn in Nayarit, families cultivate after the first rain of the season in July. However, before the cultivation, many families gather for ceremonial purposes in four important community gatherings such as for 1) the selection of seeds, 2) the blessing of the seeds, 3) the cleansing of weeds in the field, and 4) the petition for rain. Once the families are ready to cultivate, they will go to the *Yeturita* ("Field for cultivation"). In the summer, usually at the end of June or in the beginning of July, the families prepare the seeds and the *Waxata* ("Cornfield") for cultivation and for the ceremonies involving the cycle of Corn. Like the Corn Maids and Watakame, women and men work in the field. Women handle the seeds and men work the soil and prepare the Waxata for cultivation. In ceremonies such as in the *Tatéi Niwestsika 'Etsixa* ("Cultivation Ceremony"), children perform a series of dances to embody all Corn maids. They dance to the sound of the violin and present the offerings to *Tatéi Takutsi Nakawé* ("Our Mother Growth") and Tatéi Niwetsika. Then, they exchange Corn-based offerings among themselves. After the ceremony, women continue the labor of husking, selecting the best Our Mother Corn seeds, and planning the next trip to the *Yeturita* ("Field for cultivation") to begin the season [7].

Traditional agriculture employed in the Milpa allows for the cultivation of multiple crops. According to Kremen and Miles, the diversification of farming systems regenerates the ecosystem by following techniques such as "composting, cover crops, crop rotation, absence of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers" [16]. Crops are grown together to increase biodiversity, enhance soil health, eliminate fossil fuel fertilizers and pesticides, and control erosion [17]. In many Wixárika families, they cultivate beans, squash, chilies, herbs, amaranth, medicinal plants, and flowers. Each plant companion, like the three sister systems among Anishinaabe [18] and Chakra systems in the Andes [19], serves a different role in the support of the ecosystem. For instance, Our Mother Corn provides the structure by growing vertically, so that beans can crawl to maximize the consumption of light. In exchange, beans maximize the production of oxygen and nitrogen in the soil. Squash grows closer to the soil to prevent predators and allow the other plants to grow healthier. Finally, wild medicinal plants, insects, and pollinators grow in the Milpa, so that people can benefit from their properties while consumed. In a field trial, the growth of "fava bean/maize intercrop" showed that beans facilitated the growth of maize yields by moving phosphorus that was consumed by maize [16].
