{"id":141875,"date":"2020-11-26T16:09:10","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T21:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?p=141875"},"modified":"2020-11-26T16:09:10","modified_gmt":"2020-11-26T21:09:10","slug":"returning-the-three-sisters-corn-beans-and-squash-to-native-american-farms-nourishes-people-land-and-cultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2020\/11\/returning-the-three-sisters-corn-beans-and-squash-to-native-american-farms-nourishes-people-land-and-cultures\/","title":{"rendered":"Returning the \u2018three sisters\u2019 \u2013 corn, beans and squash \u2013 to Native American farms nourishes people, land and cultures"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is republished from\u00a0The Conversation<\/a>\u00a0under a Creative Commons license. Read the\u00a0original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Historians know that\u00a0turkey and corn<\/a>\u00a0were part of the\u00a0first Thanksgiving<\/a>, when Wampanoag peoples shared a harvest meal with the pilgrims of Plymouth plantation in Massachusetts. And traditional Native American farming practices tell us that squash and beans likely were part of that 1621 dinner too.<\/p>\n

For centuries before Europeans reached North America, many Native Americans grew these foods together in one plot, along with the less familiar sunflower. They called the plants sisters to reflect how they thrived when they were cultivated together.<\/p>\n

Today\u00a0three-quarters of Native Americans live off of reservations<\/a>, mainly in urban areas. And nationwide, many Native American communities\u00a0lack access to healthy food<\/a>. As a\u00a0scholar of Indigenous studies<\/a>\u00a0focusing on Native relationships with the land, I began to wonder why Native farming practices had declined and what benefits could emerge from bringing them back.<\/p>\n

To answer these questions, I am working with\u00a0agronomist Marshall McDaniel<\/a>,\u00a0horticulturalist Ajay Nair<\/a>,\u00a0nutritionist Donna Winham<\/a>\u00a0and Native gardening projects in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Our research project, \u201cReuniting the Three Sisters,\u201d explores what it means to be a responsible caretaker of the land from the perspective of peoples who have been balancing agricultural production with sustainability for hundreds of years.<\/p>\n

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