The Hopi Farmer Who Grew an 800-Year-Old Seed
Michael Kotutwa Johnson
Michael Kotutwa Johnson is a 250th generation Hopi dry farmer and University of Arizona professor. His people have farmed the same land in northeastern Arizona for thousands of years - a place that receives only six inches of rain annually, with no irrigation and no pesticides.
Michael once planted an 800-year-old corn seed discovered by an archaeologist in a cave near historical Hopi villages. It sprouted because seeds have memory. This corn remembered how to grow and knew that it was safe to grow in caring Hopi hands.
We talk about what makes Hopi culture a collaboration of clans, planting with faith during extreme drought, the planting stick as both life and death, singing to your corn and giving plants high fives, treating seeds as children, reading biological indicators in the land, and the practice of holding seeds in your mouth before planting. Michael also shares how he roasts corn in seven-foot stone pits to preserve it for decades - real food security rooted in community, not individual accumulation.
"They're children to me. When they fall down, you pick them back up." Michael embodies what it means to be in true relationship with plants, seeds, soil, and the living world. Knowledge passed down through 250 generations that offers us a different model for resilience, adaptation, and agricultural practice.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - What makes Hopi Hopi: A collaboration of clans
04:10 - Hopi clan migrations and oral traditions
08:20 - Faith as the most important ingredient
11:57 - Lessons from grandfather: The planting stick as life and death
15:14 - Planting techniques: 6-18 inches deep without irrigation
17:30 - The intimacy of seed planting
20:53 - Reading biological indicators: How weeds predict the season
24:11 - The present moment in Hopi language and culture
26:24 - "Without corn, we are not Hopi"
29:17 - The role of women in Hopi agriculture
30:47 - Adapting to climate change the Hopi way
35:07 - The 800-year-old corn seed: Memory and adaptation
39:09 - The satisfaction of growing your own food
41:39 - Why regenerative agriculture matters
48:25 - Cultural significance of Hopi seeds
52:09 - The ethics of seed sharing
56:21 - Timing, acceptance, and nurturing
59:15 - Singing to plants and giving them high fives
1:00:55 - Food memory: Roasting corn in a seven-foot stone pit
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Episode 2
