The Three Sisters Garden

Hundreds of years ago, Mississippian people used this rich bottomland to grow crops, and by the 12th century C.E. most indigenous cultures in southeastern North America were successfully cultivating maize, or corn, so effectively that Mississippian culture expanded throughout the Mississippi River watershed. Many indigenous American cultures used the companion planting of corn, beans, and squash, planted in rows or mounds in ways that reflected extensive stewardship: small mounds supported corn’s shallow roots, beans restored nitrogen to soil depleted by corn and climbed the corn stalks, and squash spread as ground cover that improved soil moisture and helped prevent weed growth. The cultural importance of these cultivated crops lived on in oral traditions, including a Cherokee story of three sisters who kept each other fed, hydrated, and strong while being forcibly removed west on the Trail of Tears, helping carry the tradition to Oklahoma and preserve an emotional relationship to the past for future generations. Versions of the Three Sisters tradition vary across many indigenous American cultures, but all center on three sisters and three plants working together.

Clarksville, Tennessee · United States