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.
