<P> The three crops benefit from each other . The maize provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles . The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants use, and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight, helping prevent the establishment of weeds . The squash leaves also act as a "living mulch", creating a microclimate to retain moisture in the soil, and the prickly hairs of the vine deter pests . Corn, beans, and squash contain complex carbohydrates, essential fatty acids and all eight essential amino acids, allowing most Native American tribes to thrive on a plant - based diet . </P> <P> Native Americans throughout North America are known for growing variations of Three Sisters gardens . The milpas of Mesoamerica are farms or gardens that employ companion planting on a larger scale . The Ancestral Puebloans are known for adopting this garden design in a drier environment . The Tewa and other peoples of the Southwestern United States often included a "fourth Sister", Rocky Mountain bee plant (Cleome serrulata), which attracts bees to help pollinate the beans and squash . </P> <P> The Three Sisters planting method is featured on the reverse of the 2009 US Sacagawea dollar . </P> <P> The division of labor among the Iroquois and Seneca peoples was noted to be that women tended the crops, the' three sisters' . This was because men could be absent from their home and villages for an extended amount of time while hunting, attending diplomatic missions and raiding . The initial preparation for the planting of the' three sisters' was performed by the men who cleared the land . After the land was cleared, groups of women who were related to each other would then do the planting, weeding and harvesting . </P>

Who taught the three sisters growing technique to the pilgrims