Three Sisters, One Family

Photo by Garlan Miles

The three sisters (corn, beans and squash) have become well-known for their harmonious example.  Thus, the inevitable questions: Where did they come from?  Do they really get along as well as they appear to?  What is the secret of their legendary success?  Native American stories provide deep-rooted answers to these questions.

The "genealogy" of the three sisters is explained within an Iroquois creation story.  Sky Woman fell from a hole in the sky into an endless sea.  Animals rescued her by helping her to land safely on the back of a giant turtle.  "Turtle Island" is now known as North America.  Sky Woman, who was already pregnant when she fell, then gave birth to a daughter.  This daughter later died in childbirth.  The three sisters then grew from her grave to ensure the survival of twin sons: the Iroquois, and all of humanity.

Most tribes tell of sisters with strong individual traits that sometimes clashed.  An Eastern Canadian story states that one sister had a way of running off by herself, and another downright disappeared for awhile.  It took the help of a Mohawk boy to get them all back together again.  The sisters have also been described as quite different in size and style.  One Onondaga story even describes "sister" corn as a lonely young man who eventually marries the clinging bean in favor of the roaming squash.

What most stories agree upon is that the three sisters eventually learned to unite by using their differences in complementary ways for the greater good.  And that - more than anything - is the secret of their success.

Resources

http://www.eso-garden.com

http://www.birdclan.org/threesisters.htm

http://www.evergreen.ca/en/lg/h-corn.html

http://www.iroquois.net/