Three Sisters Gardening in Midwestern Native American Nations: An Ethnohistory of Indigenous Agricultural Survivance

FAIN: FEL-273506-21

Christina Gish Hill
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Ames, IA 50011-2000)

Research and writing leading to a book on Native American agricultural practices in the Midwest from precontact to the present. 

Two hundred years ago, Native American agriculturalists around the Great Lakes and along the Missouri River fed the fur trade with their diverse vegetable products, but those innovative Native agricultural systems have suffered from rapid decline over the 20th century. This book, "Three Sisters Gardening in Midwestern Native American Nations: An Ethnohistory of Indigenous Agricultural Survivance," will recuperate the historical diversity of Native agricultural knowledge in the Midwest, including the impacts of Native agricultural production on both Native and Euro-American livelihoods during the periods of early contact, the fur trade, and settler encroachment, as well as factors that led to historical loss of Native agricultural knowledge suffered during the removal, reservation, and assimilationist periods. This book will shed new light on the processes of settler colonialism and Native efforts to assert their own sovereignty through their traditional agriculture.

Associated Products

“Seeds To Feed The People: Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the Upper Midwest (USA),” (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: “Seeds To Feed The People: Indigenous Food Sovereignty in the Upper Midwest (USA),”
Author: Christina Gish Hill
Abstract: This Zoom meeting explores visual cues and optical tools employed by experts to reveal the macro and micro aspects of human-visual traces in colourants and indigenous pigmentation as well as revelations about scent and taste worlds of the past that inform the present. The combined speakers and the engaged dialogue that will follow with the audience will reveal the deep entanglements of the senses in visual and material culture among traditions spanning North and South America anthropology, archaeology, art history and history.
Date: 03/15/2023
Primary URL: http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/events/americas-archaeology-group/update-sensory-overload-sight-scents-and-tastes
Primary URL Description: Sensory Overload: Sight, Scents, and Tastes, Cambridge University
Conference Name: Sensory Overload: Sight, Scents, and Tastes

"Indigenous Food Sovereignty Efforts in the Umonhon and Isanti Nations,” round table. (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: "Indigenous Food Sovereignty Efforts in the Umonhon and Isanti Nations,” round table.
Author: Kristine Flying Hawk
Author: Christina Gish Hill
Author: Angelina Magerl
Author: Lizzie Swalley
Author: Hank Miller
Abstract: Experts from NICC, Iowa State, and the Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA) have created a partnership which focuses on both community development and research through the Three Sisters Growing Project. This project has brought forth vegetables historically grown by local Nebraska Tribes and put them in the hands of community members on tribal lands.
Date: 4/19/2023
Primary URL: http://www.unl.edu/plains/seminars/2023-program-full-WEB.pdf
Primary URL Description: Plant to Table Conference Program
Conference Name: Plant to Table: Food Production, Culture, and Consequences on the Great Plains

"A Look At Three Sisters Agriculture From the Ground Up” (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: "A Look At Three Sisters Agriculture From the Ground Up”
Author: Derrick Kapayou
Author: Christina Gish Hill
Abstract: Growing corn, squash, and beans, together in the same space during the same growing season is a traditional method of growing food for many Native Nations in the Upper Midwest and around this country. This production method has come to be called the Three Sisters. This presentation examines Three Sisters agriculture from the ground up, in order to contextualize how this cropping practice interacts with the environment it is placed into, particularly considering the impact on soil, and to more fully understand it’s value as a food production method in 4 midwestern Native communities. Cultural ties in these Native communities to this cropping practice run very deep. Historically, Native Nations who chose to grow biodiverse cropping systems were able to combine the different characteristics within each plant to create a high-yielding environment that would allow them to harvest enough food not only to survive until the next growing season, but to fuel a robust trade economy. Because different plant species respond to challenging environmental issues in different ways, Native Nations using this cropping practice appears to be more sustainable than the modern practice of growing fields of a single-species monocrop when dealing with adverse weather events. Learning how different Native Nations interact with their Three Sisters gardens and the soils that support them may help motivate other Native people to consider gardening and enjoy the benefits.
Date: 5/22/2022
Primary URL: https://food-sovereignty.com/schedule/
Primary URL Description: Food Sovereignty Symposium Schedule
Conference Name: Food Sovereignty Symposium and Festival, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community

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