excerpt
“The women grind seeds into flour for cakes, mush and bread and mix sunflower
meal with beans, squash, and corn.”
As they passed behind the sachem’s lodge, White Eagle stood up from tending
his own plot. “Ah, Falcon, I see Salmon Spear is showing you our gardens. Tonight,
at the Lodge Fire, I will tell the story of the Three Sisters: maize, beans, and squash.”
That night, White Eagle sat in the glow of the Lodge Fire recounting old stories
about all the good things that flow from the land. “Corn was given by Cautantowwit,
Great Divine One from the South Wind. Some say the first maize was brought here
by Crow. We never harm the black birds, even when they take our seeds and scratch
up our gardens.”
The flames cast eerie shadows as the old man spoke in his low, clear voice.
“The ancient ones say that long ago, when nothing grew on the land and people
starved, the Great Spirit sent a woman to save us. She travelled over the land and
everywhere her right hand touched the earth, papas, potatoes grew. And everywhere
her left hand touched the soil, came maize, corn. When the world was rich
and fertile, she sat down to rest. When she stood, tobacco leaves grew so that we
also might rest and enjoy what we plant and what we harvest.”
“Now…” White Eagle paused to look around at all the young faces. “When it’s
time, everyone who has legs to walk and hands to be useful, helps with harvest.
Then we celebrate the Green Corn Ceremony. After the winter snows, we burn the
land and give back goodness to the soil. Everything that comes from Mother Earth
must return to Mother Earth. So it goes on until the very end, when there is no more
planting and no more reaping. All that is, will rest.”
Once more, the old man looked around the Lodge Fire. Some young eyes were
drooping shut, but White Eagle held up his hand to indicate he still had something
to add. “The Great Cycle continues. We cannot rest until the snows. Food must be
dried and stored for winter months; for those times when the soil rests and does not
give us food.”
Then he turned to the Brothers and the Norse. “Maize and beans and many other
fruits will dry on mats. We will store them in underground pits, lined with grasses.
Then nothing spoils in damp and cold. Seeds for new growth must be stored to be
planted when the sun returns to warm the earth’s belly.”
Brother Ailan tasted fruits of the earth he had never tasted before. He knew he
had much to learn from Salmon Spear and White Eagle and listened attentively to
the Sachem’s words.
“Your harvest is so rich,” said Ailan. “Where we come from, we feed the soil as you
do but with the droppings from our animals, and yet, I have never tasted crops so
sweet. How do you do it? Do you always plant the same crops?”
“When it is time, we will begin the cycle again with the same crops. But next time,
Po-tah-toh will grow where this cycle’s corn and beans have given us food. The Three
Sisters will change beds with to-bah-coh, sunflower, and ground berries. Some fields
will rest. Mother Earth has taught us that she grows tired when the same foods are
taken from her without change and rest. Above all, we always return to the earth
what we do not use and what our bodies produce. Nothing is ever wasted.”
The Sachem saw that several of the children had already nodded off. “Now, you
tired ones may go to your mats. We, who need less sleep, will sit with our pipes
and remember the gifts of Cautantow wit.”
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