The survival of the early colonists depended on what corn they could beg, borrow or steal from the native peoples plus what they were able to grow under their guidance. It is believed that corn dates back even further than the inhabitance of native people. Corn's origin is believed to be in the Mexican plateau or the highlands of Guatemala. Fossil pollen grains of corn have been found in drill cores of lake sediment beneath Mexico City. These sediments could be 80,000 years old or more.
Corn belongs to the grass family.
Theory suggests that at one time, each individual kernel was covered by its own floral parts similar to the kernels of oats and barley, and that the cob readily broke down into small segments. It is believed that this has allowed corn as a species to survive. The husk and cob as we know them today were gradually developed from wild varieties by the native population. There are records of Champlain finding corn growing in the area of Georgian Bay in 1615. Native groups developed the major classes of corn that we recognize today.