Cultivating Connections 

After-school  Lessons 
Food and Culture in the Willamette Valley 
 
 
WE WILL RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT… ​local food systems and 
the individual’s place in the food justice and environmental justice 
movements 
 
STUDENTS WILL GAIN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT… ​companion 
planting and the history of Native American agriculture 
 
WE WILL FOSTER AN ATTITUDE OF CARE… ​by interacting and 
building a connection with plants, as well as anthropomorphizing 
plants through storytelling 
 
STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP SKILLS SUCH AS… ​collaboration 
through a group art project and critical thinking through 
examining their sense of place and its context and history 
 
STUDENTS WILL BE INSPIRED TO TAKE ACTION… ​by 
learning how to grow food and participate in their local food 
system 
 
  
 
Food and Culture in the 
Willamette Valley  
Learning About the Three Sisters of Native 
North American Agriculture 
Cultivating Connections Spring Session 
Kelsey Ioannou and Rebecca Perrin 
University of Oregon Environmental Leadership Program 2018 
  
 
 
 
 
 
This lesson introduces the Three Sisters of Native North 
American  agriculture,  modified  to  be more relevant to 
the  Willamette  Valley:  beans,  squash,  and  sunflowers. 
Using  a  game,  storytelling,  and  an applied art project, 
the  lesson  will  drive  home  the  importance  of 
companion planting in gardening. The game will be an 
energetic  warm  up  for  bodies  as  well  as  minds  within 
the  garden.  The  story  will  focus  on  the  Three  Sisters 
and  how  this  native  Iroquois  legend  connects  to 
companion  planting.  Our  mural  will  be  of  the  Three 
Sisters  planted  together.  Although  these  activities  are 
designed  to  be  play-based for the after-school setting, 
they will connect students to place, culture, and history 
within  foodways.  This  lesson  will  be  taught  outside  in 
the garden. 
 
 
 
 
 
This  lesson  will  allow  students  to  build  awareness  and  establish 
connection  to  our  home,  the  Willamette  Valley.  It  will  be  a  dynamic 
history  lesson  that  will  connect  students  to  the  historical  and  cultural 
food  systems  of  North  America.  It  is  important  to  discuss  food  and 
culture,  as  it  is  a  subject that is deeply ingrained in all of our lives, but 
often  taken  for  granted. Discussing food and culture, specifically in the 
 Willamette Valley, will provide a new framework with 
which  students  will  understand  the  relationships  that 
plants have with people and with each other. 
 
The final activity in this lesson is an art project that all 
students  will  collaborate  on  together.  Students  are 
involved in the design of parts of the mural and will all 
work together to create a work of art to be displayed. 
Students will engage their creativity and imaginations, 
work together, and build self confidence.  
 
Students  will  also  have  the  opportunity  to  plant  the 
seeds  from  each  of  the  plants  that  they  heard  a  story 
about, learned about their roles, and painted or drew. 
 
Learning  about  the  Three  Sisters  will  give  students  a 
greater  awareness  of  the  historical  agricultural 
practices in the United States before European arrival. 
Learning  about companion planting will give students 
another  framework  to  use  when  they  are  planning 
what  they  plant in their gardens, as well as help them 
understand why and where various plants are grown. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Food  and  culture  can  more  easily  be  stated  as  “food  ​is  ​culture.” 
Foodways  are  specific  to  a  particular  way  of  life  based  on  place, 
background, values, religion, etc. The Three Sisters are usually defined 
as  corn,  beans,  and  squash   and  were  a  major  staple  in  Native  North 
American  agriculture.1​   This  method  of  planting  is  also  an  example  of 
companion  planting,  a  commonly  used  technique  in  which  each   plant 
plays  a  role  in  the  wellbeing  and  survival  of its companions.​  To adapt 
2
this lesson to the Willamette Valley, we replaced corn with sunflowers, a3 
plant  native  to  North  America  that  is  important  to  Native  Americans,​  
including  the  Kalapuya  of  the  Willamette  Valley,4  who  roasted  seeds 
during their controlled burning of the valley floor.​  Sunflowers can play 
the  role  of  “supportive sister” that the beans can climb. Beans play the 
role  of  the  “climbing  sister,”  as  they  climb  the  sunflower,  keeping  all 
three  plants  close  together.  Pumpkins  or  squash  play  the  role  of 
“protective  sister,”  whose  large,  prickly  leaves2   suppress weeds, repel 
critters,
 
and retain moisture for all three plants.​
 
 
 
 
Introduction (5 minutes) 
 
1. Form a circle.  
2. Student  and  facilitator  introductions.  Go  around  the  circle  and 
have  each  person  share  their  favorite  companion  to  spend  time 
outdoors  with.  Have  one  facilitator  start and provide example for 
who  or  what  a  companion  might  be,  such  as  sibling,  family 
member, friend, pet, etc. 
3. Introduce  our  plan  for  the  day.  Inform  students  that  we  will  first 
play a game, then listen to a story, then collaborate on a mural for 
the  garden.  Share  that  if  we  finish  our  art  project,  we  will  get  to 
plant the plants that we will learn about today. Ask if there are any 
questions about the plan. 
 
 
Scavenger Warm-Up Game (10 minutes) 
 
1. Establish  a  “base”  in  the  garden,  such  as  a  flagpole,  a  wall,  or 
something  else  that  each  player  can  put  their  hand  on  to  be “on 
base.” 
2. For  each  round,  tell  players  to  run  and  find  something  in  the 
garden,  then  to  run  back  and  put  their  hand  on  the  base.  Ask 
players questions such as: 
a. Find a plant with tendrils 
Most  students  will  be  unfamiliar  with  this  term.  Use  this 
opportunity  to not only explain what tendrils are, but to show 
them how plants use tendrils to climb. 
b. Find something yellow in the garden 
c. Find a plant that reaches for the sky 
d. Find a plant that smells good and sniff it 
e. Touch [specific plant] 
f. Taste your favorite plant 
g. Find two plants that are growing together 
3. Play  for  5  minutes  to  get  students  warmed  up  and  engaged  with 
their immediate sense of place. 
 
 
 
 
Story (15 minutes) 
 
1. Gather group in a circle and ask if they want to hear a story. It is a 
very old story about growing food that has been passed down for 
centuries.  Share  that  the  story  comes  from  the  Iroquois,  a 
northeast  Native  American  confederacy,  with  minor  changes 
(replacing  corn  with  the  sunflower)  to  align  with  the  Willamette 
Valley. 
2. Ask  students  to  listen  carefully, as they will play an active role in 
the story when asked, including making sound or movements and 
responding when prompted. 
3. Before we begin telling the story, the facilitators will demonstrate 
each  movement  that  we  will  use  in  the  story.  While  the  story  is 
being told, facilitators will continue to move along with the kids. 
4. We will have movements associated with each sister: 
a. Everytime  we  say  “eldest  sister”,  grow  tall,  spread  your 
leaves (arms) and face the sun (close eyes) 
b. Everytime  we  say  “middle  sister”,  get  low  to  protect  your 
companions 
c. Everytime  we  say  “youngest  sister”,  wiggle  your  fingers 
and limbs upwards to sprawl your tendrils  
 
 
After  the  story,  we  will  have  a  small  discussion  about  the  three plants, 
asking students such questions as: 
1. What’s something every plant needs to grow?  
The  answer  we  are  looking  for  is  water,  sun,  and  soil  -  a 
plant-specific  variation on “food, water, and shelter,” which is what 
students learn during the “Habitats” in-school lesson  
2. Why are they planted together? 
3. What role does each plant play? 
4. Why would the plants need protection? 
5. Which plant do the beans climb? 
6. Why does the sunflower move with the sun? 
7. What is a companion? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Art Project and Planting (25 minutes) 
 
Establish  group  agreements  for  our  group  mural.  Ask  the  students  to 
share  School  Garden  Project’s  rules,  and  facilitators  will  repeat  these 
rules  back.  Ask  the  students  if  they  feel  there  are  any  more  group 
agreements  they  would  like  to  establish  for  our  painting  time.  Write 
down  effective  rules  as  students  share  them.  If  not  suggested  by 
students, suggest the following rules: 
1. We will only make positive comments about our friends’ paintings 
2. We will not paint over top our friends’ paintings 
3. We will respect the materials, mural, and each other 
4. We will only paint pictures, not words 
5. We will all have a turn painting 
6. We will have fun and be creative! 
Refer back to the rules as needed while we paint. 
 
This activity will proceed as follows: 
1. Go to the painting station. 
2. Give  everyone  a  paintbrush  and  one  facilitator  will  set  up  a 
makeshift palette in the egg cartons and recycled containers. 
3. The mural will have outlines and guidelines on it already, and the 
students will be free to paint on, around, or over these. 
4. While  the  students  are  painting,  ask  them  questions,  tailored  to 
their age group such as: 
a. Why do you think these plants are planted together?  
b. Do  you  notice  anything  special  about  how  these plants are 
growing together? 
c. Do  you  know  what  a  companion  is?  Do  you  have  a 
companion? 
d. When  have  you  eaten  beans?  Squash/pumpkins? 
Sunflowers?  
e. What do you notice about how each plant grows? How tall is 
it? How big are its leaves? What do its tendrils do? 
 
When students feel that they have finished everything they want to paint 
or  draw,  or  if  they  seem  disengaged  with  the  art  activity,  offer  the 
choice for students to plant each of the plants in the garden.  
 
 
 
 
 
Wrap Up (5 minutes) 
 
To end the lesson, circle up again and have a short moment of gratitude 
and assessment.  
1. Thank  the  students  and  tell  them  we  are  grateful  for  them  all 
being here today in the garden 
2. Ask  students  to  think  about  what  they  are  grateful  for  and  what 
they learned 
3. Go  around  the  circle  and  each  person  will  share  one  thing  that 
they  are  grateful  for  and  one  thing  they  learned  today  about 
plants 
4. As students are talking, one facilitator will record what they share 
they have learned about plants during our lesson 
 
 
 
 
 
 
If  the  group  size  is  large,  it  is  more  effective  to  split  the  students  into 
smaller  groups while working on the group mural. Be sure to adapt the 
amount of materials as well.  
 
It  may  be  more  effective  to  work  with  markers,  crayons,  or  colored 
pencils if painting may become too messy. 
 
If  students  are  disengaged  with  the  group  mural,  it  is  always  a  good 
option  to  have  subject-relevant  coloring  pages  or  other  materials  for 
them to color on. 
 
For  younger  students,  finger  painting  may  be  more  effective  and 
enjoyable.  
 
Relevant  snacks  may  be  included  during  the  story  portion,  such  as 
popcorn  or  sunflower  seeds.  It  is  recommended  to  pass  out  the  snack 
before the story to reduce distraction. 
 
Be  sure  to  refer  to  the  students  as  “artists,”  “planters,”  “gardeners,” 
etc. instead of “boys and girls” or “guys.” 
   
 
 
 
 
 
Template: ​https://www.schoolgardenproject.org/ 
 
1. Cornell Garden Based Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2018, from 
Cornell University: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences website: 
http://gardening.cals.cornell.edu/lessons/curricula/the-three-sisters-exp
loring-an-iroquois-garden/a-legend/ 
 
2. The Three Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash . (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 
2018, from The Old Farmer's Almanac website: 
https://www.almanac.com/content/three-sisters-corn-bean-and-squash  
 
3. History. (n.d.). Retrieved February 1, 2018, from National Sunflower 
Association website: ​https://www.sunflowernsa.com/all-about/history/ 
 
4. Kalapuya Talking Stones . (n.d.). Retrieved from Nearby Nature website: 
http://www.nearbynature.org/about-us/alton-baker-park/talking-stones  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
Once upon a time, very long ago, there were three sisters who lived together 
in a field.  
These sisters were quite different from one another in their size and also in 
their way of dressing.  
 
One of the three was the ​youngest sister,​ so young that she could only crawl at 
first and needed to climb on her oldest sister for support, and she was 
dressed in green.  
 
The ​middle sister​ of the three wore a frock of bright orange, and she had a 
way of staying low to the ground and protecting her sisters from nuisances.  
 
The third was the ​eldest sister​, standing always very straight and tall above 
the other sisters and trying to support and guard them. She had a bright 
yellow face that was always pointed toward the sun. 
 
There was one way in which the three sisters were alike. They loved one 
another very dearly, and they were never separated. They were sure that they 
would not be able to live apart and be so strong. The three sisters were 
companions, and needed each other’s support and protection to grow strong 
and healthy. 
 
After awhile a stranger came to the field of the three sisters, a little boy.  
(Ask the audience to look around like scouts, surveying the field) 
 
He was as straight as an arrow and as fearless as the eagle that circled the sky 
above his head. He knew the way of talking to the birds​ (Ask ⅓ of the audience 
to call out like birds)​ and the small critters of the earth, the squirrels ​(Ask ⅓ of 
the audience to munch like squirrels)​, and the young foxes ​(Ask the remaining 
⅓ to creep like foxes)​.  
 
 
And the three sisters, ​the youngest sister​ the one who was just able to crawl, 
the middle sister​, the one in the orange frock, and ​the eldest sister​, the one 
standing tall, were very much interested in the little boy.  
 
They watched him fit his arrow in his bow, saw him carve a bowl with his stone 
knife, and wondered where he went at night. 
 
Late in the summer of the first coming of the boy to their field, one of the three 
sisters disappeared. This was the ​youngest sister​ in green, the sister who 
could only crawl and climb. She was scarcely able to stand alone in the field 
unless she had a stick to which she clung.  
 
Her sisters mourned for her until the fall, but she did not return. 
 
Once more the boy came to the field of the three sisters. He came to gather 
reeds at the edge of a stream nearby to make arrow shafts. The two sisters 
who were left in the field watched him and gazed with wonder at the prints of 
his moccasins in the earth that marked his trail. 
(Ask the audience to open their eyes wide and look around) 
 
That night the ​middle sister​, the one who was dressed in orange and who 
always wanted to protect her sisters, left the field. She left no trace of her 
going, but it may have been that she set her feet in the moccasin tracks of the 
little boy. 
 
Now there was only one of the sisters, the ​eldest sister​ left. Tall and straight 
she stood in the field not once bowing her head with sorrow, but it seemed to 
her that she could not live there alone.  
 
The days grew shorter and the nights were colder.  
(Ask the audience to shiver) 
 
Her yellow face began to wilt with time and loneliness, pointing towards the 
ground and further from the sun. 
 
Day and night she sighed for her sisters to return to her, but they did not hear 
her.  
(Ask the audience to sigh dramatically and call out “sisters! sisters!”) 
 
Her voice when she tried to call to them was low and plaintive like the wind. 
(Ask the audience if they can make soft wind noises) 
 
But one day when it was the season of the harvest, the little boy heard the 
crying of the third sister who had been left to mourn there in the field.  
(Ask the audience to call out “sisters! sisters!”) 
 
He felt sorry for her, and he took her in his arms and carried her to the lodge 
of his family.  
 
Oh what a surprise awaited here there! Her two lost sisters were there in the 
lodge of the little boy, safe and very glad to see her.  
(Ask the audience to cheer and say “yay! woohoo!”) 
 
The ​youngest sister​ and the ​middle sister​ had been curious about the boy, and 
they had gone home with him to see how and where he lived.  
 
They had liked his warm cave so much that they had decided to stay with him 
now that winter was coming. They were doing all they could to be useful. 
 
The ​little sister​ in green, now quite grown up, was helping to keep the dinner 
pot full.  
 
The ​middle sister​ in orange sat on the shelf, for she planned to fill the dinner 
pot later.  
 
The ​eldest sister​ joined them, ready to give her seeds for the dinner. And the 
three were never separated again. 
 
Every child of today knows these sisters and needs them just as much as the 
little boy did.  
 
For the ​little sister​ in green is the bean.  
Her ​middle sister​ in orange is the squash,  
and the ​eldest sister​ with the bright yellow face is the sunflower.