Three Sisters: A triumphant story of love and survival from the author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Product Information

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History broadens the classification from the specific Seneca Nation to that of the Haudenosaunee ( Iroquois) Confederacy in its description of the Three Sisters. LaDuke, W. (2005). Recovering the sacred: The power of naming and claiming. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. https://archive.details/recoveringsacred00ladu. The Three Sisters model was not just a means for modeling a specific intercropping practice but was, and is, a significant cultural and spiritual construct. Crosby, M.A. (1918). Farm practices that increase crop yields: The Gulf Coast region. Farmers' Bulletin, Number 986. https://archive.org/details/CAT10308363.

Agricultural Research Service. (2021 February 26). USDA Agricultural Research Service Sets Stage for Next-Generation Researchers. https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2021/usda-agricultural-research-service-sets-stage-for-next-generation-researchers/. Charles L. Mohler and Kimberly A. Stoner provide a good overview of the various farming practices that are relevant to Three Sisters' farming:Mt. Pleasant, J. (2016). Food yields and nutrient analyses of the Three Sisters: A Haudenosaunee cropping system. Ethnobiology Letters,7(1), 87‐98. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.7.1.2016.721.

Hart, J. P. (2003). Rethinking the Three Sisters. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology, 19, 73‐82. Intercropping with legumes—that is, growing some leguminous crop between the rows of intertilled crops, such as corn or cotton—is the simplest system of growing crops for soil improvement. This practice is an inexpensive and easy means of increasing crop yields, yet, while common in many sections, is not followed to the extent that it should be. The continuous growing of any one intertilled crop on the same land for a succession of years is not good farm practice; but where this is the custom, as is the case in many sections, the practice of intercropping with legumes will frequently keep a sufficient supply of humus in the land to maintain crop yields. But if Classic Cars or American Muscle Cars are more your cup of tea then get behind the wheel of the stylish Aston Martin DB4 or the thunderous Mustang GT or Chevrolet Camaro SS plus many more. In fact, why not treat yourself, a friend or family member to a Movie car 5 Blast and enjoy driving some of the most famous cars to appear on the silver screen. Lovers of older cars will also find their dream vehicle to drive at Three Sisters. Among the cars we have that are older in years, but still as much fun to drive as their modern counterparts, are the Ford Escort RS MK1 and Shelby Mustang GT500.To the Iroquois people, corn, beans, and squash are the Three Sisters, the physical and spiritual sustainers of life. These life-supporting plants were given to the people when all three miraculously sprouted from the body of Sky Woman's daughter, granting the gift of agriculture to the Iroquois nations. Eames-Sheavly describes the benefits and processes behind interplanting within Three Sisters gardens. McNair, A.D. (1918). Crop systems for Arkansas. Farmers' Bulletin, Number 1000. https://archive.org/details/CAT87205204.

Hirst, K. Kris. (2020). The Three Sisters: The traditional intercropping agricultural method. https://www.thoughtco.com/three-sisters-american-farming-173034.Lewandowski, S. (1987). Diohe'ko, the Three Sisters in Seneca life: Implications for a native agriculture in the finger lakes region of New York State. Agriculture and Human Values, 4, 76–93 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01530644 The Carnegie Museum of Natural History also provides a useful description of just how this method was carried out. McMillan, L. (n.d.). The Three Sisters. The Hand Lens. Specimen Stories. New York Botanical Garden. http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/the-hand-lens/explore/narratives-details/?irn=7503.. The technique for planting the Three Sisters spread from Mesoamerica northward over many generations, eventually becoming widespread throughout North America. Indigenous farmers saved the best seeds for the following season, resulting in a wide variety of cultivars perfectly suited for the environments in which they were grown. Much of this diversity was sadly lost as indigenous nations were forced out of their ancestral lands by early European settlers and mainstream agricultural practices took hold. Hill, C.G. (2020). Returning corn, beans, and squash to Native American farms. The Conversation. Iowa State University. https://theconversation.com/returning-the-three-sisters-corn-beans-and-squash-to-native-american-farms-nourishes-people-land-and-cultures-149230.

The Iroquois agricultural system was based on the hill-planting method. Iroquois women, who were responsible for farming, placed several kernels of corn in a hole. As the small seedlings began to grow, the farmers returned periodically to mound the soil around the young plants, ultimately creating a hill one foot high and two feet wide. The hills were arranged in rows about one step apart. Parker, A.C. (1910). Iroquois Uses of Maize and Other Food Plants. Albany, NY: University of the State of New York. https://archive.org/details/iroquoisusesofma00parkrich. The multicultural research team of Lindsey Lunsford, Melvin L. Arthur, and Christine M. Porter provide a blunter view.Hart describes the archeological evidence tracing the practices behind this type of inter or polycropping of corn, beans, and squash. Certain woman banded themselves together in a society called the Tonwisas or Towisas Oa'no. The propitiated the spirits of the three sisters by certain ceremonies. In their ceremonial march, Wenuntonwisas, the leader holding an armful of corn and a cake of corn bread leads her band in a measured march about a kettle of corn soup about a kettle of corn soup. p. 27 Xu, Z., Ki, C., Zhang, C., Yu, Y., van der Werf, W., & Zhang, F. (2020). Intercropping maize and soybean increases efficiency of land and fertilizer nitrogen use: A meta-analysis. Field Crops Research, 246(1), 107661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2019.107661.