THE THREE SISTERS, TURTLE ÉIRIÚ 

EARTH RISING IMMA 2022

 

​Cotton fabric, madder root powder, blackberries, Cherokee Trail of Tears Beans, turmeric powder, avocado skins & seeds, indigo powder, gum arabic, wooden pegs, rope

 

Recycled blue plastic drum made portable by two ash die-back poles, soil, corn, beans, squash, bamboo poles, jute twine

 

Haudenosaunee peoples of North-East America planted corn at the time of year when the dogwood leaves were the size of a squirrel’s ear. This tallest sister- corn is planted in the soil first. She becomes the oldest sister and gives a strong vertical support for the middle sister- beans to climb. They’re also shaded from the sun by the corn's wide green leaves. A few weeks later the youngest sister-squash is sown and grows her prickly leaves across the ground, protecting her older siblings.

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My research into the development of native American agricultural wisdom led me to discover the strong links to between it and Irish ecological folklore. This forms the subject of the text work on both the hanging cotton and the repurposed barrel made portable by two ash die back poles hooked onto the bottom. This housed the Three Sisters vegetables. The Three Sisters agriculture originated from central Mexico and spread throughout the Americas by 1,000 CE. We give thanks to the native tribes who spread this tradition. Scientifically speaking, there’s many benefits to planting corn, beans and squash together, like the increase of 30% in yields. My main interest however is in the survival of folklore to understand food sovereignty. Here, there is a softer thread of wisdom revealing itself to us rather than a scientifically or culturally approved hard-cold-fact. 

 

In Native American creation myths, Turtle Island was the name given to the land of North America. Ireland's original namesake comes from the Goddess Éiriú. The text on the cotton detailed some major events in Irelands colonial History such as “16. C An Spainneach Geal (the potato) reaches Ireland.” then we read about arrival of Columbus on the shores of North America, a devastating event as he 'spied Gold around the Arawaks necks'. On the barrel, the inner circle of the stamp reads Mother Earth in Cherokee language. I'm interested in the notion that mother Earth has approved this system before science. She designed this system perfectly and it was part of the natives intuitive knowledge.

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