First Lady, Indian kids plant crops

First Lady and American Indian Children Plant Traditional Crops in the White House Kitchen GardenOne week after the launch of Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC), and as part of the regular seasonal harvest, Mrs. Obama and American Indian children began the process of planting the “three sisters”–corn, beans and squash–in the White House kitchen garden. This traditional Native American planting technique grows crops in a mutually beneficial manner: the corn provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles; the beans provide the soil with nitrogen that the other plants use; and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight and preventing weeds. The Cherokee White Eagle corn, Rattlesnake pole beans, and Seminole squash seeds used today come from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.And:The American Indian children who joined Mrs. Obama today come from a variety of tribes including Jemez Pueblo, Skokomish, Cherokee, Sault Ste. Marie, Navajo, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, St. Regis Mohawk, Tlingit, Oglala Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux, and the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. Mrs. Obama was also joined by leaders in the Native American community, including Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk, Indian Health Service Director Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Director Dennis Concannon, Bureau of Indian Education Director Keith Moore, President of the National Congress of American Indian Jefferson Keel, National Museum of the American Indian Director Kevin Gover, NFL quarterback Sam Bradford and basketball player Tahnee Robinson.First Lady Remembers Native Youth

Comment:  For more on Michelle Obama and Indians, see Michelle Obama's Mentors Include Erdrich and Blackfeet Ornaments at White House.