Indian Legend

The Legend of the Three Sisters

Once upon a time, long ago, the Great Creator decided to give man sisters for company. The eldest sister was named Corn Girl, and she grew tall, straight and wore a green shawl. She had long, flowing yellow hair that blew in the breezes. The second sister was called Bean Girl; she was bright yellow and was always running off into the sunshine. The third was the youngest and could only crawl places. She was Squash Girl and wore bright green.

One day the man caught the eye of Squash Girl, and he carried her away into the night. The other two sisters were sad at the loss. The next day the Native American man discovered Bean Girl and took her with him. That left beautiful Corn Girl all alone and filled with grief. When the man visited the next day, he saw her sadness and took her, too.

This tale is common among all Native American peoples who were agricultural. Sometimes slightly different in the telling, they all speak about the three crops grown together to sustain the tribes. Several kernels of corn (maize) were sprinkled into a twelve inch high mound. Sometimes a rotten piece of fish was placed on top of the seeds and covered with dirt as fertilizer. After the corn was about six inches tall, beans were planted next to the plant followed by squash seeds next to the beans.

Native Americans understood that beans grew better off the ground climbing upon a pole like a corn stalk. Corn also requires lots of nitrogen to grow and beans provided it. The squash covered the ground around the other two plants providing shade and served as a mulch to keep moisture near the roots of all of the plants. All three worked together to produce food needed by Native Americans.