The Three Sisters is an oral story expressing the importance of maize, beans and squash and the use of these crops by Native American women in a classic form of companion planting. This tradition is symbolic of the circle of life and the idea that all living things rely on each other for survival. The Three Sisters are a harmonious trio of corn, pole beans and squash planted togethter to support each other and thrve together.
The combination of planting maize (a tall grass), bean (a nitrogen-fixing legume) and squash (a low lying plant) was a productive, advanced and sophisticated understanding of agriculture and the enviornment. Understanding of "the Three Sisters" provided long-term soil fertility and provided a healthy diet to generations of the First Peoples.
The Three Sisters represents one method of companion planting. Maize, beans and squash are placed into a hole in the ground. The maize (corn stalk) grows first providing a vertical structure. Beans start to grow next, and their sprouting vines look for something to climb upon to reach the sun better. The squash starts to sprout soon after growing large leaves that stay low around the ground
In turn, Corn helps bean vines absorb more energy from the sun. Bean vines benefit the corn stalks by helping them to stabilize during heavy winds. Beans roots capture nitrogen from the air and transfers it to the soil, helping the corn grow big. Squash leaves tend to be large and prickly, thus offering shade for the soil and protection from predators and the elements.
Nutritionally, the three sisters provide a wealth of healthy foodstuff. Maize provides carbohydrates and some amino acids; beans provides the rest of required amino acids, as well as dietary fiber, vitamins B2 and B6, zinc, iron, manganese, iodine, potassium, and phosphorus; and squash provides Vitamin A. Together, they make a great succotash.
Native Americans throughout North America are known for growing variations of Three Sisters gardens. THe milpas of Mesoamerica are farms or gardens that employ companion planting on a larger scale. The Anasazi are known for adopting this garden design in a drier environment. The Tewa and other Southwestern United States tribes often included a "fourth sister" known as "Rocky Mountain bee plant" which attracts bees to help pollinate the beans and squash.
Some believe that indigenous agricultural systems were primitive and lacked sophistication , unproductive and backwards. In truth Native American Agriculture systems were very productive and represented an advanced understanding of crops and the environment. These trails of human ingenuity have had a profound and lasting impact on the modern world.
Beans are the third sister. She climbs through squash and then up corn to bind all together as she reaches for the sun. Beans help keep the soil fertile by coverting the sun's energy into nitrogen filled nodules that grow on its roots. As beans grow they use the stored nitrogen as food.
A 1995 Census Bureau Survey indicated that 49% of Native people prefered being called American Indian, 37% preferred Native American, 3.6% preferred "some other term," and 5% had no preference.
