When ancient wisdom beats modern industry - Rebecca Webster

One fall evening in 1779, Seneca Chief Handsome Lake lay down for what he thought would be his final rest. Instead, he had a vision that would change his life—and countless others. Before this moment, the US military had unleashed a brutal, months-long campaign that plunged Handsome Lake’s village, and the larger Haudenosaunee Confederacy it belonged to, into turmoil. The military’s attacks on the Haudenosaunee, who they commonly referred to as the Iroquois, destroyed entire communities and killed many.

Suffering illness and despair, Handsome Lake prepared for death when suddenly, he found himself walking through a planted field. He felt something graze his shoulder and heard a woman call out behind him. But when he turned around, all he saw were the long, golden leaves of corn brushing against his shoulders. Again, he heard the woman’s voice. She told Handsome Lake that she could sense his thoughts, and that the recent devastation had also left her and her sisters with little hope for the future. She asked if they could join him on his journey toward death.

At that moment, Handsome Lake realized the woman speaking was the spirit of the corn—her sisters, the spirits of the beans and squash. For generations, the Haudenosaunee had sustained themselves off these crops, known as the Three Sisters. Planted together in the same mound, each sister helped the others grow. First, the corn, the eldest sister, provides a long stalk that acts as a sturdy trellis. Then the second sister, beans, sends out its stems with touch-sensing tips that search for nearby supports. When they encounter the corn stalk, they wrap around it and climb upwards, their leaves capturing ever more light.

Reciprocally, when the corn faces heavy winds, the bean plant provides structural support. It also helps the corn grow by boosting the amount of available nitrogen—an essential nutrient for plant growth. The bean plant does this by releasing chemical messengers from its roots, attracting rhizobia, a kind of nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in the soil. The bacteria infiltrate its cell walls, then begin siphoning food from the bean plant. And in return, the rhizobia bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form of nitrogen the plants can use for growth.

The third and lowest-lying sister, squash, produces large, umbrella-like leaves that shade the soil and keep it moist. Some squash varietals are even equipped with prickly hairs, which protect the Three Sisters from foraging animals. Handsome Lake realized that if he left the world at that moment, he would take the millennia-old knowledge of the Three Sisters with him, uprooting tradition, depriving his community of a lifeline, and estranging the sisters from one another. He couldn’t bear this fate. So he promised instead to stay and re-teach his community how to care for the Three Sisters and allow the crops to provide for them in return.

Today, the Haudenosaunee continue to grow the Three Sisters. And the ancient farming practice has inspired solutions to many issues caused by modern and industrial farming. For example, monocropping, where farmers plant a single type of plant in a field year after year, depletes soil of nutrients. And, as of 2022, it’s estimated that one third of the world’s soil is moderately to highly degraded. While a majority of US farmland now utilizes some form of crop rotation, this practice alone might not adequately replenish the soil.

Meanwhile, crops tend to use ground nutrients more efficiently when grown together in close proximity, like the Three Sisters. Many modern farms also overuse nitrogen-based fertilizers. But since crops, on average, take up only half the nitrogen released by these fertilizers, the remainder is broken down by microbes in the soil and released as greenhouse gases—or it washes away and pollutes local bodies of water. Planting beans, however, can decrease the need for fertilizer. And current industrial farming practices are also water-intensive, demanding over 70% of the world's water.

Incorporating low-lying cover crops like squash, however, can increase the soil’s water-holding capacity. The success of the Three Sisters shows us that there are more sustainable ways to grow food. And they’re just one example of regenerative agriculture—a practice with ancient roots that recognizes nature as a dynamic, interconnected system. By implementing regenerative principles, we can aid—not degrade—the land that gives us food, while honoring those who preserved this transformative, traditional knowledge.