Returning the ‘Three Sisters’—Corn, Beans and Squash—to Native American Farms Nourishes People, Land and Cultures

For centuries Native Americans intercropped corn, beans and squash because the plants thrived together. A new initiative is measuring health and social benefits from reuniting the “three sisters.”

by Christina Gish Hill
November 20, 2020

"Historians know that turkey and corn were part of the first Thanksgiving, 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.

"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.

"Today three-quarters of Native Americans live off of reservations, mainly in urban areas. And nationwide, many Native American communities lack access to healthy food. As a scholar of Indigenous studies focusing 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.

"To answer these questions, I am working with agronomist Marshall McDaniel, horticulturalist Ajay Nair, nutritionist Donna Winham and Native gardening projects in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Our research project, 'Reuniting the Three Sisters,' 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.

Abundant Harvests

"Historically, Native people throughout the Americas bred indigenous plant varieties specific to the growing conditions of their homelands. They selected seeds for many different traits, such as flavor, texture and color.

"Native growers knew that planting corn, beans, squash and sunflowers together produced mutual benefits. Corn stalks created a trellis for beans to climb, and beans’ twining vines secured the corn in high winds. They also certainly observed that corn and bean plants growing together tended to be healthier than when raised separately. Today we know the reason: Bacteria living on bean plant roots pull nitrogen – an essential plant nutrient – from the air and convert it to a form that both beans and corn can use.

"Squash plants contributed by shading the ground with their broad leaves, preventing weeds from growing and retaining water in the soil. Heritage squash varieties also had spines that discouraged deer and raccoons from visiting the garden for a snack. And sunflowers planted around the edges of the garden created a natural fence, protecting other plants from wind and animals and attracting pollinators.

"Interplanting these agricultural sisters produced bountiful harvests that sustained large Native communities and spurred fruitful trade economies. The first Europeans who reached the Americas were shocked at the abundant food crops they found. My research is exploring how, 200 years ago, Native American agriculturalists around the Great Lakes and along the Missouri and Red rivers fed fur traders with their diverse vegetable products."

Read more:
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/returning-the-three-sisters-corn-beans-and-squash-to-native-american-farms-nourishes-people-land-and?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

#IndigenousFood #NativeAmericanFood
#Decolonize #TraditionalFoods #TraditionalDiets #Reclaim #ThreeSisters

Some good recipes here! I've made acorn bread (mixed with corn flour), and have had a lot of the ingredients listed below -- but not Catawba / Catalpa worms (really caterpillars). I have eaten many other insects though (more about those in later posts).

#Ojibwe Recipes: Explore Traditional Dishes and Flavors of the Ojibwe People
by Doughnut Lounge

"The Ojibwe people have a rich culinary tradition that reflects their deep connection to nature and the land. With a focus on seasonal ingredients and sustainable practices, Ojibwe recipes celebrate the flavors of the Great Lakes region. From wild rice harvested in traditional ways to fresh fish and game, these dishes tell the story of a vibrant culture that thrives on community and tradition.

"As we explore Ojibwe recipes, we’ll discover not only delicious meals but also the history and significance behind them. Each dish is a reminder of the importance of honoring our food sources and embracing the natural bounty around us. Join us on this culinary journey as we dive into the heart of Ojibwe cooking, sharing recipes that are both nourishing and steeped in heritage.

Key Takeaways

- Rich Culinary Tradition: Ojibwe recipes are deeply rooted in their cultural heritage, emphasizing a strong connection to nature and #sustainable practices.
- Seasonal Ingredients: The use of local, seasonal ingredients like #WildRice, freshwater fish, and berries is fundamental to Ojibwe cooking, showcasing the flavors of the Great Lakes region.
- Traditional Cooking Techniques: Key cooking methods such as slow cooking, foraging, and smoking are used to create authentic dishes that honor ancestral practices.
- Diverse Dish Variations: Ojibwe cuisine includes a range of dishes from hearty main courses like Wild Rice and Smoked Fish to delightful desserts like Blueberry Pudding, highlighting the adaptability of their culinary tradition.
- Focus on Community and Heritage: Each recipe serves not only to nourish but also to celebrate community bonds and the importance of respecting food sources and traditions.
- Cooking Tools and Preparation: Utilizing appropriate tools and ingredient prep strategies enhances the cooking experience, ensuring the authenticity and flavors of Ojibwe dishes are preserved.

Common Ingredients in Ojibwe Cuisine

- Wild Rice: A staple grain that is harvested from natural bodies of water, offering a nutty flavor and chewy texture.
- Fish: Freshwater fish such as trout, lake whitefish, and northern pike are frequently featured, providing protein and rich flavors.
- Game: Venison and other wild meats are often used, honoring the Ojibwe’s connection to the land.
- Berries: Seasonal berries like blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries bring natural sweetness and vibrant flavors to dishes.
- Maple Syrup: This natural sweetener is harvested in the spring and adds depth to both savory and sweet recipes.
- Herbs and Spices: Common herbs include sage, cedar, and sweetgrass, which contribute unique aromas and flavors to our dishes.
- Acorn Flour: Ground from dried acorns, this flour adds a nut-like flavor and is used in various traditional baked goods.
- Dandelion Greens: Foraged in spring, these greens provide a peppery taste and are often incorporated into salads or cooked dishes.
- Catawba / Catalpa Worms: Used in some traditional feasts, these larvae add a unique protein source and are prepared with care and respect.
- Honey: Sourced from local beekeepers, honey enriches recipes with its sweetness and is often used in traditional desserts.
- Chokecherries: These tart fruit are transformed into jams or jellies, enhancing dishes with their distinctive tangy flavor."

Read more (includes recipes):
https://doughnutlounge.com/ojibwe-recipes/

#IndigenousFood #NativeAmericanFood
#OjibweRecipes #Decolonize #TraditionalFoods #TraditionalDiets

Online cooking show, lifestyle blog encourage #Indigenous ingredients in everyday meals

Anna Ehrick
April 3, 2025

PHOENIX – "Since she was 3 years old, #MariahGladstone says, she has had a passion for food.

"After graduating from high school in northwest Montana, she studied environmental engineering at Columbia University in New York. During summers, she returned to her Blackfeet Nation home where she realized how disconnected Indigenous communities were from their traditional food systems.

" 'After I graduated college, I would take vacation days from my real world job to go to food sovereignty conferences,' said Gladstone, who is Blackfeet and Cherokee. 'At one of those conferences, I said, ‘Someone really needs to start a cooking show about Indigenous foods. I think I’m just going to do that.'

"Indigikitchen was born. The online cooking show is a combination of content on YouTube as well as recipes shared on its website. The foods contain Native ingredients like berries, corn, squash and wild rice.

"#FoodSovereignty is a concept coined in 1996 by La Via Campesina, a global movement of farmers that recognizes the right of people to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods.

"On her website, Gladstone emphasizes the importance of the recipes for Indigenous people.

" 'I want to connect people with information about sustainable harvesting methods, planting knowledge, sustainable hunting and, of course, the recipes and the food that are ways of using our #AncestralKnowledge in our modern lives,' she said.

"Gladstone spreads this knowledge by working with Native farmers and fishermen in the hopes that it not only restores their businesses, but the #LandManagement and #TraditionalEcologies.

"While based in #Montana, Indigikitchen has made its way across the country. Gladstone is a popular speaker with groups in the Southwest and the Great Lakes region who hire her for educational lectures, cooking classes and school residencies. Gladstone also has ties to Canada, where she has formed relationships with other nations in the #BlackfootConfederacy.

"These connections have motivated Gladstone to continue her work with #Indigikitchen, and she said she’s grateful to use a tool like social media in order to reach the right audiences.

" 'Indian Country is small and Facebook is a digital telegraph, so it has a way of reaching a lot of communities very quickly where everyone shares my recipes and utilizes them,' she said. 'The more people I see using those recipes, the bigger difference it makes to support Native producers as well as healthy nutrition in our communities.'

"Among the recipes on her website are Three Sisters Soup, which uses corn, beans and squash; pemmican, a mixture of dry buffalo meat, dried cranberries and blueberries and grass-fed beef tallow; sunflower maple cookies; and mesquite blue cornbread.

"Connecting Indigenous people with the food they ate before European foods were introduced into their diets is a movement gaining popularity. According to the National Indian Council on Aging, Native foods included seeds, nuts, #corn, #beans, chile, #squash, wild fruits and greens, herbs, fish and game.

"People like Gladstone call these '#PreContact foods,' and they emphasize the importance for #IndigenousPeople to celebrate their food culture and improve their health by returning to a more traditional diet.

"That is especially important for the Navajo Nation, which the USDA classifies as a 'food desert.' There are only 14 grocery stores for a land mass of 29,000 square miles, forcing people to travel a long way to buy nutritious foods.

"Another Native food and lifestyle blogger who promotes #Diné, or #Navajo, recipes is #AlanaYazzie. On her website, thefancynavajo.com, she posts recipes for blue corn waffles, sumac berry smoothies and blue corn oatmeal from her cookbook, 'The Modern Navajo Kitchen.' "

Read more:
https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2025/04/03/indigikitchen-founder-navajo-blog-connects-with-native-communities/

#IndigenousFood #NativeAmericanFood
#CookingShows #IndigiKitchen #Decolonize #TraditionalFoods #TraditionalDiets

#Arizona - Skoden Coffee & Tea combines traditional #NativeAmericanCuisine with #activism

by Anna Ehrick, April 22, 2025

PHOENIX – "For Indigenous small business owner Natasha John, the road to owning a coffee shop has been long. About 300 miles, in fact.

"John first opened Skoden Coffee & Tea as a pop-up in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, traveling to areas throughout the vast community in northeast Arizona.

"When people suggested she should move the business 300 miles south to Phoenix, John recalled she doubted the idea.

" 'I was really against it because I thought I wanted to be like a food hub on the reservation because it’s such a food desert,' John said. 'But I had the reassurance from my partner and colleagues that were helping me with pop-ups.'

"When an opportunity came in December 2023 to move the enterprise to a vacant spot inside For The People, an uptown #PhoenixAZ furniture store on Central Avenue, she jumped at the chance.

" 'Fortunately, we had a lot of success with that first location,' she said. 'When business owners say location means everything, it really does.'

"Skoden Coffee & Tea has now settled in its most recent home inside #CentralRecords, a record store on Central Avenue south of Roosevelt Street. It’s inspired by Japanese-style coffee shops referred to as 'kissa.'

"That’s a shortened version of 'kissaten,' roughly translated to 'tea drinking shop.' In Japan, a kissa is a spot where people can listen to music, usually jazz, while enjoying their tea.

"At Skoden, a variety of beverages and pastries are inspired by Indigenous cuisine, with ingredients like blue corn and oat milk alongside coffees and espressos. Among the most popular offerings are the Diné Matcha Latte, Honey Lavender Lez Love, Peach and Pecan Latte as well as blue corn donuts and croissants.

"For John and co-owner Jo Manuelito, it’s important to include elements of nostalgia from growing up on the reservation.

"This includes beverages that use Navajo tea, an ancient herbal tea using the dried leaves of Greenthread, also known as Thelesperma. The herb, with its thread-like leaves, contains anti-inflammatory elements, which is why the tea has been used for hundreds of years as tribal medicine.

" 'We do research into trying to restore a lot of things that were lost during #colonization in our diets,' John said.
'One thing that a lot of Navajo people are trying to revive is the use of #sumac. It’s used in a lot of #MiddleEastern communities, but our ancestors used to harvest it as well.'

"The use of ancestral ingredients is what John believes will help the #Navajo community not only nourish themselves but stay connected to their culture.

"Being #Indigenous and #LGBTQ+, John said she recognizes some of the difficulties she has faced as a business owner.

" 'I feel like there’s a lot of judgment and high expectations,' she said. 'People are constantly projecting onto us, always watching us and judging. This whole experience has taught me that we really need to grow thicker skin.'

"John said they want all customers to feel safe and welcomed, and said it helps that the shop is surrounded by other supportive small businesses like Greater Good and Last Laugh Tattoo.

"Skoden has a growing Instagram presence, with more than 15,000 followers. It hosts fundraising events for diverse communities and music festivals featuring small bands.

" 'Everybody does a good job of uplifting each other, and we get a lot of people in the area that come in and support local business owners,' John said. 'The shop can take credit for being a #SafeSpace where people can share the same values and ideas on social issues.'

"Charlie Amáyá Scott, a Native American scholar and transgender advocate, has visited Skoden and said her favorite drink is the Navajo lavender-infused honey tea.

" 'I adore Skoden Coffee,' said Scott, who also works as a social media influencer.

"She has taken to Instagram to support the shop, encouraging others who live near the area to check it out. She also has spoken out about the shop’s role in #activism and support of certain movements like #BearsEars, which involves a coalition of five Indigenous communities who want to protect the #BearsEarsNationalMonument.

"John said she wants customers to leave Skoden feeling supported and renewed.

" 'We have to remind each other what we’re doing this for and go back to those values of why we started this business,' she said. 'For us, it’s not about making money but trying to create change through serving coffee and providing a space where people can just heal.' "

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2025/04/22/indigenous-coffee-shop-offers-safe-space/

#VoicesOfDecolonization - #Wabanaki #Sustenance and #SelfDetermination

by Jillian Kerr, 7 November 2024

"Before #colonization, the Wabanaki region was rich in food; Wabanaki Tribes had excellent knowledge of their environment and knew where to find each resource, when it was abundant, and in what quantities. They utilized natural resources and foods respectfully, creating little or no waste. This sustainable approach to food and natural resources made the Wabanaki among the healthiest people in the world. However, the arrival of Europeans disrupted this harmony, forcing the Wabanaki out of their homelands. Europeans imposed a different understanding of nature and harvesting, which led to unhealthy and unsustainable practices. The Wabanaki continue to strive for the restoration of their traditional foodways as a way to practice #FoodSovereignty.

"To develop food sovereignty and economic stability, the #Mikmaq Nation in Aroostook County constructed an indoor fish hatchery on the site of Micmac Farms in Caribou, Maine. This farm, which previously only grew and sold fresh or preserved fruits and vegetables, now receives Nesowadnehunk Brook Trout eggs from the Maine State Hatchery in Enfield, Maine. The grown fish are then sold back to Maine’s Soil and Water Conservation District for public consumption throughout the state. In addition, they generously donate food to the local food bank and provide discounts for Tribal members, demonstrating a sustainable model for food sovereignty for the Mi’kmaq Nation.

"The Houlton Band of #Maliseet Indians launched a food sovereignty initiative to increase access to nutritious food, improve food sovereignty, and strengthen connections to Wabanaki culture by sharing traditional food production, storage, and preparation approaches. The lessons learned add to current knowledge about developing, implementing, and evaluating a model rooted in the principles of food sovereignty. Opportunities to learn and share knowledge about traditional storage and recipes are provided to community members, and existing partnerships have been leveraged to develop a sustainable model. Additional community gardens were also created to increase food production capacity, increasing food sovereignty for the Maliseet.

"One way the #Passamaquoddy Tribe fights for food sovereignty is by restoring the watershed of the Skutik River, which was renamed the St. Croix River by colonists. The Skutik River is at the heart of the ancestral home of the Passamaquoddy Tribe.. This crucial watershed is the natural spawning ground and ancient homeland for many species of sea-run fish, including Atlantic salmon and sea-run alewife (river herring), a vital food source. Historically, the number of fish swimming up the Skutik River was massive and sustained the Passamaquoddy for thousands of years. Yet now, the alewife population is too small to feed or sustain the Tribe.

"The large amount of pollution produced by colonization upset the productivity and natural balance of the Skutik River and the life cycles of the native fishery, straining the river’s ecosystem. For many years, Maine law blocked sea-run alewives from accessing their natural and ancient spawning ground in the Skutik watershed, which diminished this important traditional sustenance food source and disturbed the cultural practices of Passamaquoddy Tribal members. The Passamaquoddy established the Skutik Watershed Strategic Sea-run Fish and River Restoration Plan to mitigate the damage and find a better way forward. They developed a collaborative of Skutik stewards, also known as the Skutik River Keepers, who work with various agencies to give the river the best chance at restoring the watershed, thereby giving the Passamaquoddy more access to traditional foods and strengthening their food sovereignty.

"The #PenobscotNation fights for food sovereignty in various ways, including rebuilding outlets on Tribal trust lands. The Penobscot ancestral homeland is located within the drainage area of the Penobscot River and its many tributaries, lakes, and ponds. The area was the fishing place for spearing and netting fish, like salmon and alewives. It was a primary nourishing source of food, medicine, connection, joy, and spirituality for the Penobscot during spring and early summer. The mills and mill dams built by colonizers upset the river's natural ecosystem, cutting off fish from places required to complete their life cycle. As a result, the river no longer contained the fish that had historically fed the Penobscot Tribe. The Penobscot successfully rebuilt outlets on Tribal trust lands in Mattamiscontis Stream, and they have completed many stream connectivity projects. This resulted in growing populations of alewives and blueback herring in the newly restored system, making more fish available as a food source for the Tribe.

"The land is a cornerstone of Native life. Before colonization, Wabanaki Tribes had developed an environmentally friendly and communal food system to protect the land and environment, using natural resources without harming the environment that provided bountiful food sources. However, centuries of colonization have separated the Wabanaki and other Native communities from their homelands and traditional foods. Natives were physically, culturally, and spiritually tied to their homelands, and forced relocation into unknown lands made it impossible to access traditional foods and harvest adequate nutrition from the land for survival. The lack of knowledge of unknown lands led to a dependence on government-issued rations and commodities. These rations and commodities consisted of dairy, processed wheat, sugars, etc., all foreign to the Native diet. The government's aim in providing these rations and commodities to Natives was not to provide nutrition but to prevent starvation.

"#ForcedRelocation and other federal policies devastated many Tribes’ food systems, disrupting their hunting, fishing, farming, and harvesting traditions. The disruption continues today as the federal government still decides what foods they will distribute to Native communities. The government also makes agreements with the producers, a system that favors large-scale vendors, leading to missed opportunities for Native farmers. Problems with food quality also still exist; many traditional foods are still unavailable, and it is not uncommon for produce to travel long distances and arrive spoiled. Despite this upheaval, the Wabanaki have shown remarkable resilience and are determined to restore their traditional food practices and reclaim their food sovereignty."

Source [includes references]:
https://www.wabanakireach.org/wabanaki_sustenance_and_self_determination_by_jillian_kerr