Long before Colorado was colonized, Indigenous peoples from Mexico to Montana and beyond had been cultivating the Three Sisters for thousands of years. Corn, beans, and squash grown together in perfect harmony have been feeding people and the land for generations. The Three Sisters nurture and teach us about powerful lessons for building Colorado’s food systems today.
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How They Help Each Other GrowÂ
The Three Sisters work in partnership. Corn stands tall, providing a frame for beans to climb toward the sun. Below ground, bean roots create nitrogen that enriches the soil for all three crops. Squash spreads wide with prickly leaves, shading the earth, blocking weeds, and deterring pests.
This partnership delivers results: yields up to 20% higher while using less space, water, and fertilizer than growing these crops separately. Together, the sisters provide complete nutrition — carbohydrates (corn), protein (beans), and vitamins (squash) — which is why they served as the foundation of pre-colonial Oneida diets.
A Blueprint for Food Systems
At Provecho Collective, we see the Three Sisters as more than an agricultural technique — they’re a blueprint for the world we’re building. Like these plants, we thrive when we share resources, support each other’s growth, and create abundance without waste.
The sisters teach us that when individuals flourish, the whole system benefits. They show us what mutual nourishment looks like: interdependent food systems, cultivators, and consumers that take only what they need while giving back to the land and each other.
This feels like exactly what we’re working toward in Colorado’s food systems — less waste, more collaboration, and sustainable practices that honor both people and land.
Honoring Traditional Knowledge
Our understanding of the Three Sisters comes from Indigenous sources, and it’s crucial we honor that context. Native American traditions have been kept alive through generations of oral knowledge-sharing, and we’re grateful to learn from these vibrant cultures.
As an Onondaga Faithkeeper once said about sharing traditional practices: “It’s supposed to be shared, otherwise how can it work? We’ve been waiting five hundred years for people to listen.” Our Three Sisters imagery celebrates Traditional Ecological Knowledge, lending our platform to this wisdom and the collaboration needed to build strong, local food systems.
While Provecho Collective’s name honors Latine traditions that enrich our land, our logo celebrates the Indigenous nations whose wisdom and practices continue to teach us. Colorado, like our soil, is more fruitful thanks to all the cultures that help feed and cultivate it.
Growing Forward Together
The Three Sisters remind us that we’re all part of reciprocity. Environmental stewardship and food systems are intertwined. The hands that harvest are part of the system that grows. When we express our gifts and receive others’, there’s enough for all.
This is the world we’re cultivating — one where respect, support, and shared abundance create space for everyone at the table.
Resources:
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Learn about Colorado’s tribes: The Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Comanche
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Get involved: Center for Native American Youth and Trees Water People (Colorado-based environmental and Native American community work)
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Try it yourself: Three Sister’s Soup Recipe
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Further Reading: Braiding Sweetgrass (with a chapter on The Three Sisters) and Serviceberry (free audio version available) by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Sources:
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- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
