Indigenous Roots of Modern Agriculture: 7 Farming Practices You Didn’t Know Came From Native Americans

Many present-day farming practices, such as no-till or regenerative agriculture, are touted as environmentally friendly alternatives to “traditional” planting methods. But these modern practices aren’t really modern at all. In fact, many trace back thousands of years, rooted in early Native American agriculture.

Native American communities in the Americas, from Peru to Canada, developed sophisticated agricultural techniques that not only fed their people but also shaped global food systems. These communities were also responsible for developing some of the world’s favorite diet staples such as corn, tomatoes and potatoes. In celebration of Native American Heritage Month this November, explore a few of the most influential Indigenous contributions to agriculture.

1. Planting Maize (Corn)

If you’ve been around for the past few years, you probably remember Tariq, the adorable “corn kid” who just loves the stuff. But he’s not the only one. In 2023 and 2024, the U.S. consumed around 12 billion bushels of corn, using it for animal feed, ethanol, as an ingredient in popular food products and as a standalone food source.

But we wouldn’t have modern corn without centuries of groundwork laid by Native Americans. The crop, also known as maize, was first cultivated in the area now known as Mexico as far back as 8,000 years ago before spreading throughout North and South America. It was first developed from a wild grass called teosinte. However, ancient kernels looked very different from today’s corn, as they were smaller and not fused together. By employing systematic collection and cultivation, Native Americans encouraged the formation of cobs on early maize. Cob length and size gradually grew over the next few thousand years.

The earliest American Indians to cultivate corn were the Pueblo people of the Southwest. The crop arrived here around 1,200 B.C. By A.D. 1,000, it was established as a staple crop for tribes like the Creek, Cherokee and Iroquois.

See more: Indigenous Women Are Restoring Their Agricultural Heritage in Colorado

2. Planting Squash, Taters and More

Corn isn’t the only staple crop that was first cultivated by Native Americans. Early Americans also grew a variety of beans, squash, potatoes, tomatoes, chile peppers and cacao across North and South America. Many of these crops had a purpose beyond nutrition too. For instance, gourd and squash shells were dried and used as containers and water jugs.

3. No-Till and Regenerative Agriculture

You may have heard about a resurgence of no-till farming, which is being driven by environmental concerns like climate change and soil erosion. This agriculture method, which involves growing crops without disturbing soil through plowing or tillage, can help reduce wind and water erosion, reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere, improve the soil’s water retention and support a healthy microbial community.

And though the idea may be new to some, no-till agriculture is a concept that goes back to early Native American communities. Before Europeans arrived to the Americas, Native Americans lacked domesticated draft animals like horses and oxen, which were traditionally used for plowing. Instead, they would employ other methods that left the soil undisturbed, such as layering compost. Another technique utilized by Native American communities called slash and mulch involves clearing plants by slashing them and leaving the plant parts on the soil to act as a mulch.

4. Companion Planting

If you have a garden, you’ve probably heard of companion planting, or pairing crops together that mutually benefit one another. Some examples include tomatoes and basil, marigolds and peppers, and carrots with onions. Companion plantings often help fend off diseases and pests and can help plants get vital nutrients.

The Three Sisters system is an example of no-till companion planting that has been used by Native Americans for thousands of years. This method plants corn, beans and squash together, which offers benefits to all three crops: the corn provides a stalk for the beans to climb; the beans fix nitrogen from the air, converting it into a natural fertilizer that is released into the soil; and the squash leaves act as a living mulch.

Three Sisters is also an example of polyculture, where several types of crops are interspersed with each other instead of growing rows of the same crop, a method that is known as monoculture. Intercropping mimics the way different species grow together in nature, whereas monoculture leads to the exhaustion of soil nutrients.

5. Controlled Burns

Each year, land managers in Kansas set the tall grasses of the Konza Prairie on fire … on purpose! This prescribed burning helps with nutrient cycling, reduces “fuel” for wildfires, stimulates growth and reduces invasive species. This strategy goes back to the original inhabitants of this tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Native Americans there used burning to rejuvenate soil and to herd bison to specific areas for more efficient hunting.

More broadly, Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians used fire for many millennia to clear areas for crops and travel, to hunt game and to manage land for specific plants and animals. This was known as “cultural burning.” Though cultural burning all but disappeared in the era of fire suppression during the 20th century, it is now being used more often by land managers across the country.

6. Terracing

Terracing, or establishing flat planting beds in hilly terrain, is another growing method developed by Native Americans. This technique was primarily used in the Southwest, where “trincheras,” or rock walls/terraces, were built on hillsides. Though these trincheras served several purposes, including community defense, they also helped to provide farmers with a level planting surface for their crops. Plus, they helped to prevent erosion.

This is a technique that can be integrated into home gardens that are planted on slopes to help prevent soil erosion and the loss of nutrients. Rocks and retaining walls can help create a series of flattened areas that will help mitigate runoff in much the same way as a trinchera.

See more: Indigenous Communities Work to Reclaim Their Food Sovereignty

7. Fertilizer

It is said that some early Native Americans, such as the Wampanoag, used fish to fertilize soil. This method, often associated with the Three Sisters, involved burying a dead fish with newly planted corn seeds. As the buried fish slowly decomposed, it would release essential nutrients into the soil to feed the growing plants.

According to SARE North Central, this practice serves as a foundation for modern fish emulsion fertilizers. This practice is said to have been picked up by European settlers when they arrived in the Americas.

Today, some Native American farmers still utilize this concept, but with a twist. For instance, Laura Manthe, an Oneida Nation member and grower in Wisconsin, works with a group of farmers there who plant, harvest and breed an heirloom variety of Iroquois white corn. They have modernized their ancestors’ approach to traditional fish fertilizer by using fish emulsion on their crop.

“We selected fish emulsion because we wanted the benefits of fish fertilizer without the physical task of burying thousands of fish on three acres of land,” Manthe told SARE North Central, which summarized the project on its website.

Native Americans have also long utilized crop rotation, organic composting and burning to add essential nutrients to agricultural soil.