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Cultivating the Three Sisters: Haudenosaunee Foodways and Acculturative Change in the Fur Trade Economy by Jennifer Seidel Bachelor of Arts, University of Toronto, 2013 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of History Jennifer Seidel, 2016 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Cultivating the Three Sisters: Haudenosaunee Foodways and Acculturative Change in the Fur Trade Economy by Jennifer Seidel Bachelor of Arts, University of Toronto, 2013 Supervisory Committee Dr. Peter Cook, Department of History Supervisor Dr. John Lutz, Department of History Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Peter Cook, Department of History Supervisor Dr. John Lutz, Department of History Departmental Member This study examines Haudenosaunee foodways in the Great Lakes Region between the early seventeenth century and the mid to late eighteenth century. The study is divided into two parts. First, the Creation Story is explored as it transmits the origin of the Three Sisters, a cropping system of inter-planted corn, beans and squash. The teachings of the Three Sisters highlights the importance of polyculture and sustainability. Conversely, a Westerners’ scientific account of how the Three Sisters came to be farmed together is studied. The independent pathways of the corn, beans and squash is examined as they arrived in New York State from the Mexico highlands. Recent findings show the Three Sisters were adopted independently in eastern North America beginning around A.D. 1300. They were grown together in some locations on a regular basis. The adoption of the polycultural complex of the Three Sisters was gradual and took place approximately 700 years ago as each of the crops adjusted to the climate and new surroundings. Secondly, the relationship between food, specifically the Three Sisters and acculturative change are examined pre-and-post contact. Acculturative change occurs when two independent cultures comes into contact with one another. The degree of influence is not equal as one culture can be absorbed, shaped or influenced more strongly by the other culture. The Haudenosaunee culture underwent acculturative change because the fur trade economy affected their foodways due to the influx of European goods such as the brass kettle and encroachment on their land and hunting grounds. The Haudenosaunee retained the core of their cultural beliefs and cultural practices because they made decisions, specifically their selection of goods and agricultural practices, as an extension of their cultural beliefs. Acculturative change resulted in a more monocropped and creolized agricultural system, usage of draft animals, fruit orchards and the plow. This study lies at the intersection of ethnohistory and food history. This study will serve as a tool to analyze and understand Haudenosaunee historical experiences from a First Nations cultural perspective. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ...................................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... v List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. ix Dedication ........................................................................................................................... x Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review............................................................................................................ 7 Research Placement ...................................................................................................... 24 Chapter One Indigenous and Western Accounts of the Three Sisters Pathways .............. 26 Creation Story ............................................................................................................... 27 Comparison of Haudenosaunee and Western Methodologies ...................................... 31 Western Scientific Accounts of How the Three Sisters came to be Farmed Together . 34 Squash ....................................................................................................................... 37 Corn........................................................................................................................... 39 Beans ......................................................................................................................... 44 Cultural Agricultural Practices: The Three Sisters ....................................................... 59 Cropping Methods ........................................................................................................ 61 Consumption ................................................................................................................. 64 Ceremony: Transmission of Cultural Knowledge ........................................................ 66 Chapter Two...................................................................................................................... 74 Fur Trade and the Grand Settlement of 1701................................................................ 76 Encroachment of Land .................................................................................................. 89 Consumption and Land: Private and Public Property ................................................. 101 Agricultural Practices – Polyculture and Monoculture ............................................... 103 Agricultural Practices and Technologies .................................................................... 105 Agricultural Practices: Crops and Plants ................................................................... 106 Ceremonial Practices .................................................................................................. 108 Deer Economy ............................................................................................................ 109 Dispersal of Settlement and Housing .......................................................................... 111 Housing Settlements ................................................................................................... 114 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 118 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 122 v List of Tables Table 1: Squash Squash Cucurbita pepo Cucumber Family Cucurbitaceae The Cucurbitaceae varieties include: summer squash, hubbard squash and Cucurbita pepo pumpkins Cucurbita mixta winter squash and cymlings Cucurbita moschata winter squash and pumpkins Cucurbita maxima winter squash Cucurbita ficiolia fig leaf gourd The Haudenosaunee prepared the squash and other types of melons by boiling, mashing, drying, frying, baking or using it as an additional ingredient as part of a dish. Archaeological evidence reveal that each of the species was domesticated at different times and most likely in different regions. The genus Cucurbita originated in the region south of Mexico City.1 Table 2: Corn Zea mays amylacea soft corn Zea mays indurate flint corns Zea ,mays saccharata sweet corns Zea mays everta popcorn Zea mays amylea-saccharata starchy sweet corn 1 Thomas W. Whitaker and Hugh Cutler, “Cucurbits and Cultures in the Americas,” Economic Botany vol. 19, 4 (Oct-Dec., 1965), 349. vi The Haudenosaunee divided corn into five major categories with many subspecies. Corn can be prepared in a variety ways such as Green corn loaf bread, corn soup with sunflower seeds, succotash and dried pumpkin hominy.2 Evidence show that the cultivation of corn was introduced in surrounding regions of southwestern Ontario in A.D. 540, New York State in A.D. 640 and south-central Ontario between A.D. 700-900. Table 3: Beans Beans Phaseolus vulgaris Pea Family Leguminosae Phaseolus vulgaris Common Bean Phaseolus Lunatus Lima bean Phaseolus coccineus Runner bean Phaseolus acutifolius Tepary bean Phaseolus polyanthus Year bean The Haudenosaunee divided beans into three major categories: broad beans for corn bread, soup beans as an ingredient in soup making and cranberry beans that are short and round.3 Beans can be prepared as a soup, cooked whole or boil the pods then season and add butter. Other ways bean can be prepared are mashed, fried or added with another ingredient. 2 F.W. Waugh, Iroquois Foods and Food Preparation (1916; repr., Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific, 2003), 93- 95. 3 Waugh, Iroquois Foods and Food Preparation, 104. vii The beans are cultivated from the genus Phaseolus and is regarded to have been Indigenous to South America.4 4 Waugh, Iroquois Foods and Food