The Three Sisters

While visiting Shuswap Lake in the Secwépemc territory this summer, I was introduced to the Three Sisters Garden growing on the lot of my Uncle Glen and Aunt Janet's home. 

Glen and Janet Pilling in front of the Three Sisters Garden

It is one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen.  Robin Wall Kimmerer in her book Braiding Sweetgrass describes "the genius of Indigenous agriculture, the Three Sisters.  Together these plants --corn, beans and squash -- feed the people, feed the land, and feed our imaginations, telling us how we might live." 

Here are a few closeups of the garden.  See if you can identify the corn, squash and beans. 

Who is the tall sister shooting for the stars, and who is the sister spreading her broad leaves wide to shelter the soil and protect the other two sisters from weeds and pests?

Which sister embraces the corn, keeping pace with its height, wandering and dancing around its stock?

Here is the gardener describing the Three Sisters and the garden, made for Arta Johnson with love.  

Kimmerer wrote:  "At the height of the summer, when the days are long and bright, and the thunderers come to soak the ground, the lessons of reciprocity are written clearly in a Three Sisters garden.  Together their stems inscribe what looks to me like a blueprint for the world, a map of balance and harmony.  ...  Respect one another, support one another, bring your gift to the world and receive the gifts of others, and there will be enough for all."

These are the same lessons that I have learned from another group of three sisters - Arta, Wyona and Moiya. Respect one another, support one another and bring your gift to the world.  Not only is there enough for all, but the bonds you form using this blueprint will be the structure that sustains you through a lifetime.   

Other profound truths these three sisters have taught me include:

1.  Listen with curiousity.  

2.  Open your heart, home, and table to family and friends. It leads to a rich life.

3. Share the gifts and resources you have with others.  That might be bucket of cherries, a basket of ripe plums, a stick of cream cheese for butterhorn icing, and a black feather boa to finish a vintage outfit. Just a few of the gifts I received last week. It might also be your time, your stories, a walk in the woods, a hug, or sharing a priceless memory.  

4. Every gathering is a party.  Where there is food, laugher and love, ever moment is priceless.  These gatherings are the building blocks of connection. 

5.  Set your food out on your best dishes and you will always know it is a feast.  

6.  Travel and explore the world with others.  It might mean a cruise to the Baltic, Indian Ocean or around the world or could be as simple as a trip to the Dairy Queen or Costco. The journey together is important.  

7.  Really get to know your family.  Learn the names of your nieces and nephews and their children. Be curious about their lives.  It takes work to remain connected to family, and it begins with the simple step of knowing each other.  Strong ties in families begin with curiosity and love.  These ties also require work, honesty, humility, and respect.   

Here is a classic photo of the Three Sisters

"It's close to midnight
Something evil's lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart"
Lyrics from Thriller, Michael Jackson

I could have chosen a lot of great photos to share of these three sisters, but for some reason, this photo caught my attention and made me smile.  This photo captures so much of the fun these three had together.

Wyona tells the story of these photos here:  

"Moiya, Arta, Wyona and Alex left on a cruise from South Hampton to Canary Islands and back. We went to a dance class to learn 'Thriller'.  After one lesson, which was fun, we were asked to dance in a predance before a game show on the ice rink. We were not happy to do it but we were sort of cajoled into it because not many people were at the practice.  So we dressed up the night of the dance and performed. I have a video of the event. We were on the 'Independence of the Seas', Royal Carribean.

I can't stop laughing thinking about these three sisters doing the Thriller dance. 
I gotta see that video.

I finish with another paragraph from Robin Wall Kimmerer from her book Braiding Sweetgrass.  

"Of all the wise teachers who have come into my life, none are more eloquent than these, who wordlessly in leaf and vine embody the knowledge of relationship.  Alone, a bean is just a vine, squash an oversize leaf.  Only when standing together with corn does a whole emerge which transcends the individual.  The gifts of each are more fully expressed when they are nurtured together than alone.  In ripe ears and swelling fruit, they counsel us that all gifts are multiplied in relationship.  This is how the world keeps going."