Three Sisters Gardens: An On-Campus Lesson in History and Agriculture
In planters on the Bohannon and Montague Terraces, exciting things are happening this summer. Dr. David Syring has planted four Three Sisters Gardens, a traditional garden planted by many North American indigenous peoples. This picture (right) shows one of the gardens on the Bohannon Terrace. There is an informational sign in this garden, which reads:
"The plantings in the two planters in this courtyard (and in the two in the neighboring courtyard) are examples of the Three Sisters Gardens used by many North American indigenous peoples, including the Iroquois, Hidatsa, Mandans, and others.
The Three Sisters are corn, beans, and squash. The idea is that the corn will grow tall and serve as poles for the beans to climb. The beans contribute nitrogen to the soil for the following year's corn crop. The squash, which spreads low to the ground and has large leaves to shade out competing weeds, also help to deter deer from eating the corn and beans.
The corn planted here is Mandan Bride, a colorful flour corn grown by the Mandan people. The Mandan are an indigenous group who live along the upper Missouri River, and along two of its main tributaries in what is now known as North and South Dakota. They are accomplished farmers who grow corn, beams, squash, sunflowers, and other crops in the fertile river valleys of their home. The Mandan merged with the Hidatsa and Arikara, under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, to become the "Three Affiliated Tribes." These peoples were important to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who stayed with them in the winter of 1804. While the expedition enjoyed the hospitality of the three tribes, they also met Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman who became an important guide and interpreter when the expedition continued west after the winter was over.
The beans are a variety called Hidatsa shield- a figure bean, so named because the patterned seeds resemble a traditional Hidatsa pattern.
The squash varieties, including pumpkins, planted here are modern varieties, but many of these derive from traditional varieties grown by indigenous peoples of North America."
For more information on Mandan and Hidatsa farming techniques, there is an ethnography written in the early 20th century called Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden: Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians by Gilbert Wilson, as told to him by Maxi'diwiac (Buffalo Bird Woman).
The Three Affiliated Tribes, after decades of struggle for cultural survival, continue to honor their past while working to enhance their communities in the present. For more information about them, see: http://www.mhanation.com
The harvest of plantings will be made by the Fall 2009 Anth 4633: Ethnobotany class. Contact Dr. David Syring (dsyring@d.umn.edu) for questions or comments.
Next time you're exploring UMD on the Campus Greenway, make a pit stop and check on the gardens' progress.
