Pupils in the United States discover the tale of the “three sisters” in farming: how Native Americans cultivated corn, beans, and squash together, as these crops flourish more effectively when grown in tandem than when planted separately.
This narrative is authentic, yet it does not encompass the full account of early farming in the Americas. Maize (corn), beans, and varieties of squash from Mexico (like pumpkins) weren’t extensively cultivated in eastern North America until a few centuries before European settlers arrived, starting around 900 AD. In reality, agriculture in this area commenced thousands of years prior. Indigenous communities in eastern North America developed a wide array of annual crops, many of which ceased to be cultivated during the period of European colonization.
Natalie Mueller, a specialist in agrobiodiversity and an assistant professor of archaeology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, examines these ancient crops.
In a recent publication dated May 15 in Phil. Trans. B, Mueller assesses the legacy of native crops from eastern North America and elucidates how this “dormant” agricultural system could present alternative crops and approaches in a time of swift climate shifts. Here, she addresses some inquiries regarding her investigation.
Researchers traditionally labeled the crops you focus on as “lost crops.” However, you’ve recently begun to call them “sleeping” crops instead. Why is that?
I can’t claim credit for the transition from “lost” to “sleeping” — the members of the St. Louis Native American Women’s Care Circle introduced the notion to me many years ago at an event in Granite City. We sampled some delectable dishes featuring the seeds of goosefoot, sumpweed, and knotweed — all three of the lost crops. They observed that ‘lost crops’ had an Indiana Jones-like connotation and suggested it reinforces a colonial myth implying that Indigenous cultures and peoples are extinct. This conversation was among the first of many exchanges with Indigenous cultivators and seed custodians who view seeds as living entities that are dormant or waiting for their human allies to resume their part of the relationship and sow them. This perspective is a prevalent theme in the Indigenous food and seed sovereignty movements thriving in eastern North America.
Given this revitalization, I believe it’s reasonable to regard the broader ancient agricultural systems and crops of this region as sleeping, rather than lost. With the right mix of intent, knowledge, land access, and resources, these agro-ecosystems could be revived.
What categories of crops are you discussing?
The native crops of eastern North America that remain widely cultivated include squashes and sunflowers. The sleeping crops are likely recognized by most as weeds: little barley, maygrass, sumpweed, goosefoot, and knotweed. These plants still thrive on the landscape, but they were abandoned in cultivation centuries ago, and their cultivated forms are extinct. Despite their intriguing nature, I believe we may have concentrated a bit too heavily on these specific crops.
A key argument in this paper is that the ancient agricultural framework in eastern North America was actually even more varied, incorporating managed perennial plants from forests, wetlands, and prairies. Many of these “wild” or “foraged” foods hold significant cultural importance for Indigenous communities today.
Why is it important to consider reviving these older crops and farming practices right now?
The techniques of ancient Indigenous farmers in eastern North America provide a solution to the stark dilemma of maximizing food output vs. preserving biodiversity: They succeeded in achieving both. There are numerous ways the crops and methods from this system could be integrated into modern food production.
For instance, with climate changes expected to amplify flood occurrences and intensities in the Midwestern United States, safeguarding floodplain fields from increasingly severe and erratic floods will become more challenging. Cultivating wetland or floodplain-adapted crops instead of conventional corn and soy could represent a low-input escape from this predicament.
How can current scientists and agricultural leaders collaborate with the descendants of those who once cultivated these crops?
In other areas, historical ecologists have partnered closely with local and Indigenous groups to comprehend the landscapes under study — sometimes with distinctly activist aims of restoring access to, or authority over, ancestral territories. However, this approach has generally not been applicable in eastern North America.
Nonetheless, a few successful research initiatives come to mind. For example, the Rivercane Restoration Alliance represents a partnership among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Nature Conservancy, and tribal nations to carry out interdisciplinary research and facilitate restoration efforts that enhance access to this culturally significant species. In a region where numerous tribes were forcibly displaced, a significant challenge lies in finding avenues to grant access to lands or resources in ancestral territories for communities currently residing far away.
How is your lab at WashU contributing to the revival of the sleeping crops?
My lab has initiated small efforts by keeping a seed bank of sleeping crop progenitors, which has thus far distributed seeds to 25 educational entities, Indigenous farmers, and students. We also maintain a website with cultivation guides, offering practical tips on how to grow and process each species. In the future, we aim to deepen our understanding of these species through experimentation and aid in their reintegration into local and Indigenous food systems.
Additionally, I am expanding my research beyond sleeping crops, exploring how Indigenous care influenced perennial food plants such as American lotus, sunchokes, or persimmons. I perceive the brilliance of this agricultural system lies in how people engaged with the existing ecosystems of eastern North America to enhance their productivity for human consumption, while preserving biodiversity.
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