Squash, a revered food among Native American Indians, was believed to be linked to fertility. Early colonists found the Narragansett Indians’ word it – askutasquash – difficult to say and shortened the word to “squash.” Although the colonists included it in their diet, they considered it a rather bland food. They encountered many different squashes, including the pumpkin, which Native Americans had been cultivating for centuries. Some believe that squashes were the first cultivated crop of the Indians, as it appears together consistently with two other Native American foods: corn and beans. Together, Indians referred to these staples as the “three sisters,” an expression that can be traced back to an Iroquois myth of the three vegetables representing three inseparable sisters. Today’s tradition of finishing the Thanksgiving meal with pumpkin pie originated with the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving, when pumpkins were hollowed out, filled with milk, honey and spices, and baked.
