More than seven thousand years ago, indigenous peoples in Mexico domesticated maize (corn), the most important agribusiness plant of the twenty-first century. For the past four millennia corn has been a vital crop, inspiration for ritual calendars and cosmovisions, fiber for communal cohesion and vital commodity for barter and trade among indigenous communities, tribes, kingdoms and empires from the Andes to the plains of North America. Cycles of invasion and globalization have challenged the ways Indians of the Americas have used corn as food and as symbol. This workshop explores recent challenges for indigenous farming communities raised by the viral spread of GMO cultivation, NAFTA, and the growth of agribusiness. Presentations and discussions will deal with productivity and global price pressures as much as with issues of essentializing and romantizing indigenous identities so often linked to corn.