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Where some ideas are stranger than others...

TURTLE ISLAND at the Moonspeaker

The Moonspeaker:
Where Some Ideas Are Stranger Than Others...

Turtle Island Agriculture

There are few images that seem quite so emblematic of the albertan prairies as the fields that span many rural areas from the international border as far north as cold lake in a sort of variegated checkerboard. They are formidable creations, sown, sprayed, and harvested by large machines that can throw tall clouds of dust visible for miles around. They are absurd things, with their sides running straight through lakes and seasonal sloughs. The farms worked by euro-canadians, First Nations, and Métis before and after 1867 are usually depicted in a similar way, although smaller and being worked by people, perhaps with the assistance of a horse or an ox. Yet planting one crop in linear rows is a recent practice in the americas. Rather than using rows and scattered seed, Indigenous practices originally used a system of cropping called today by its Maya name, "milpa," and it is probably familiar to many people who garden today.

A milpa is simply a mound of dirt planted with usually three plant species. The Maya and the Haudenosaunee planted their milpas with the Three Sisters: maize, beans, and squash. Around the mounds grew still other plants, until very recently usually mistaken for weeds by those unfamiliar with the technique. Those other plants provide natural insecticides and help crowd out "true" weeds, as well as providing green mulch and ground cover to help prevent loss of water and topsoil. Milpas could also be planted in groups in limited areas, for example open clearings in the forest or the open areas between collared trees. The distance between each milpa helped stop the spread of plant diseases and pests and helped with weeding.

A Mayan milpa field in 'central america.' A Mayan milpa field in 'central america.'
A Mayan milpa field in 'central america,' photo by LI1324 courtesy of wikimedia commons, november 2011.

While it is true that the Three Sisters provide all of the proteins we need in our diets that otherwise we get from meat, maize, beans, and squash aren't called siblings on account of how they fit our needs. They are referred to in this way because of how they help each other when planted together in a milpa. The maize, planted in the centre, provides support for the bean and squash plants. The bean plant fixes nitrogen in the soil while the squash plant provides ground cover, helping to prevent water and soil loss. Recent studies have shown that food production from milpas can be up to fifty times higher than for linear row, monoculture farming, although I couldn't find a direct comparison between milpas and linear row multiculture farming, if there is such a thing. Euro-canadians learned how to plant milpas from the various indigenous peoples they met, and this mode of farming continued to be used all over the americas until the early 20th century.

Considering the fact that the prairies are prone to stretches of several years of drought and generally have windy weather, the shift away from milpa farming may seem rather strange. But at the time, the decision to switch seemed like the best possible idea to people committed to imposing capitalism on the land. New farm machinery was promising to make it much easier to fulfill the requirements of the federal land settlement programs, which involved clearance and eventual harvest of a certain amount of land within three years. They made it possible for even smaller families to take over large land parcels with a view to providing land parcels to children and grandchildren. All of those machines depended on fields being planted with one crop in linear rows for best results. The aftermath of world war ii emphasized the trend due to its toll in lives, the postwar economic boom, the switch from producing munitions to heavy machinery, and the fact that many canadians opted to live in cities at that time.

Today the studies mentioned above are part of an effort to better understand and reintroduce Indigenous agricultural techniques. Scholars and practical farmers have also been listening more carefully to Indigenous peoples who have reiterated the importance of agricultural techniques that give back to the land and take as little from it as possible. This means more than what could be called "organic gardening." So not just use of compost and manure for example, but also considering how to grow food in a way that minimizes destruction to the land and teh ecosystems already present. Which means leaving behind the vile practice of sterilizing land with chemicals, then stuffing it full of monocrops that are doused with more chemicals to force them to grow fast and resist the pests that they were helpless against without companion crops. This is a nontrivial change that will demand many more people to weed and care for the plants and animals ultimately involved, who might well appreciate such meaningful work.

Copyright © C. Osborne 2024
Last Modified: Monday, January 01, 2024 01:26:42