Welcoming the Third Sister

Last week I went tromping into a muddy field in North Pelham looking for the third sister. When I got to a likely spot I parted the huge leaves and peered along the ground.

It didn't take long to spot sister squash. I quickly snapped her picture as proof, (see above), and then I high tailed it back to the road in case the farmer came along and thought I was a vegetable thief.

The Third Sister - Squash

Hick's Farm, Tice Road, Ridgeville, Ontario

In the Iroquois legend of the Maid of the Mist, Lelawela goes to her death over Niagara Falls in a canoe laden with corn, beans and squash because the three sisters were sacred sustainers of life.

If you aren't familiar with the legend, in a nutshell, it goes like this:

The people were sick and dying. It was decided to sacrifice the chief's beautiful daughter, Lelawela, to appease the Thunder God, Hinam.

Lelawela went willingly to her death but as she paddled over the edge of the Falls one of the sons of the Thunder God fell in love with her and caught her before she hit the rocks below. She promised to live with him in the Spirit Kingdom if he would tell her why her people were dying. He told her that an evil serpent was living in the Niagara River and poisoning the water. He allowed Lelawela to go and tell her people.

The people were so angry they caught the serpent and tied its head to one side of the river and its tail to the other. After it died the curve of its body became the brink of the Horse shoe Falls.

Great story, eh?  A story with a lesson because the poison is back in the Niagara River and its from the serpent called 'Industrial Waste'.

The people need to get angry again.

Anyway as this the last of my three sisters blogs* I thought I'd pass along a recipe that includes all three of them.

THREE SISTERS SOUP 

 2 cups (19 oz. can) corn kernels

(I used the kernels from two left over cobs of corn cooked the day before)
2 cups chopped green beans
 (processor or blender or by hand)
2 cups cubed butternut squash
(I used sweet potato squash because that is what I had on hand)
1-1/2 cups diced potatoes
2 tbsp. flour

2 tbsp soft butter
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 chicken bouillion cubes (optional)

In a large pot combine corn, green beans, squash, potatoes and 5 cups of water. Bring to boil Reduce heat, simmer, covered for 1 hour. Mash all vegetables in the pot with potato masher. Blend the flour and butter together and stir into soup. Cook another 5 or 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper.




Garnish with a bit of shredded cheese.

This is a great soup for a chilly, autumn day!


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* This is my last blog about the three sisters. 
I will, however,  be blogging about pumpkins at a later date!

Welcoming the Second Sister

In the early days of the earth, Corn was so pleased to be able to feed the people that she asked the Great Spirit if there was anything else she could do to help humanity.

The Great Spirit considered her request and eventually formed a beautiful doll out of the husks of the corm plant and gave it to the Iroquois children. The doll's face was so lovely that as the children passed her from village to village, all of the people commented on her beauty.

Eventually the doll became very vain.

The Creator is not pleased by vanity and told her to be more humble. The doll agreed to try, but one day when she was walking by a river she saw her own reflection and stopped to admire herself.

In anger the Great spirit sent a screech owl down to earth and the owl swooped into the river and stole the doll's reflection away. The doll was never again able to see her own face.

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To remind their children to think of spiritual and community values, rather than of themselves, Iroquois corn husk dolls continue to be made without faces.

The Second Sister

The second sister, Corn, arrived in Niagara this week and the corn is particularly tasty

but while I was reading various versions of the corn husk doll legend

I came across this sobering Iroquois prophesy.
Very disquieting when you consider the terrible oil spill off the coast of 'turtle island',(North America).
 Something to keep in mind as we enjoy the corn harvest this year.

Tears ran down the old, old, woman's cheeks, for she could see far into the future.


'Corn is sacred, everything that grows is sacred,' she said.
'But I warn you, there will come a time when the sons of your sons will forget this. Then hunger and sorrow will return to the world.'
She shook her head. 'It will not end until - unless - their grandchildren learn once more this lesson - the only lesson that is worth remembering: how to love and respect the Earth.'

---Iroquois Indian legend

Welcoming the First Sister

The earth began when Sky Woman peered through a hole in the heavens. She was pregnant and lost her balance and fell through the hole to the water below.

The animals saw her coming.

They quickly took the soil from the bottom of the sea and piled it onto the back of a giant turtle so that Sky Woman would have a soft landing.

Today we call this Turtle Island, 'North America'.

After Sky Woman landed she gave birth to a daughter.

When her daughter grew up she fell in love with the West Wind and became pregnant by him. She died while giving birth to twin boys.

Sky Woman mourned for her daughter and then buried her in the earth on Turtle Island.

Out of her grave grew three sacred plants—

corn, beans, and squash.

These plants, known as

the Three Sisters,

are precious gifts from the Great Spirit, and provided food for her people, the Iroquois, and later, for all of humanity.

 

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The First Sister

These beans are from the garden that belongs to my brother, Mark.

He doesn't use chemicals so all I needed to do was rinse them when I got home.

 

I steamed them and added butter,

and a little wild rice, and a little salad and a little cold smoked salmon.

Oink.

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