My maternal family is cherokee.
The value of those fall carbs - since those foods can be effectively stored during times of cold, when grains and carbs provide energy for warmth - is the key to their value i think. Eating appropriate seasonal foods isn’t just a matter of freshness, i think it is what the local fauna thrive on by the local conditions that created the symbiotic cycle.
It makes sense for the plant evolution too as their seeding strategy in their microclimate rely on animal consumption and distribution.
I grew it all in the three sisters method one year. It looked hella messy but yielded nicely. The caveat being the great native american saying … ‘when is it best to harvest the corn? The night before the raccoon does.’ 
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Dude, chill. I’m talking transition from the paleolithic about 11 thousand years ago. It would take another 10 thousand years for the modern first nations to emerge in north America.
Bison lived in the Eastern U.S. up until the early 1800’s. The last one that I know of was killed in Alabama in 1913. As a side note, at one point there were iirc 12 species of bison in the U.S. which included the giant bison, plains bison, woods bison, eastern bison, etc. Today, only 2 species are left. When they went extinct, entire species fell by the wayside. Look up Buffalo Clover to see an example. It was thought extinct until a patch was found growing in Tennessee about 30 years ago. The buffalo fed on it and spread the seed. Once buffalo were gone, the clover rapidly disappeared.
The plant you call dock appears to be a plant we called “Italian Dandelion” when I was a kid. We harvested it for early spring greens. As an older plant, it can be very tart. My grandmother would heat some bacon grease on the stove and make a “wilt salad” where a tablespoon or so of the hot bacon grease was poured over the greens. One species of Italian Dandelion originated in Europe but has been in the U.S. for at least 300 years. There is another that iirc is native to the U.S.
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Nixtamamlization unlocks B6 in corn and was used throughout the Americas, whether using ash or lime. Also, the Inca in Peru grew corn, and it’s century of introduction corresponds with a large increase in cavities as evidenced in burial sites.
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That is the problem with maize. It is a huge load of starch which breaks down to sugar. Nixtamalization does help with B6. It doesn’t do a thing to help with protein or oil content. That is why I value the higher protein content of the inbred lines from ARS-Grin.
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Sheesh… some of y’all really get down in the weeds of technicality!
@clarkinks … I love the thread. I grow corn, beans and squash as they all have there place in my diet and crop rotation. My diabetic father loves his squash fries, green beans, baked beans w/o sugar, and small amounts of sweet corn with butter! Lycopene, Beta-carotene, chlorophyll, soluble and insoluble fiber, Phyto-nutrients galore😍. He controls his diabetes by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, avoiding processed foods, walking, working and helping others. No medication.
I tried growing squash in the corn patch. Once. What a mess.
We eat fresh corn until we bust and then we freeze a bunch. The small nub ears are left to dry until October and then they are picked and stored for winter chicken food. It helps their yolks keep the yellow-orange color.
I can and freeze quarts of green beans. I raise dry beans occasionally. I love the beauty and variety. They are like art to me.
Squash is such a nice vegetable/fruit to grow and store. Easy-peasy. Wonderful cover crop underneath newly planted trees. We are still eating kabochas from 2021. Again, the extras go to the chickens, pigs or cows.
My version of the Three Sisters is not an authentic horticultural representation of Native American tradition. It isn’t meant to be. It is however, a nod to their knowledge, resourcefulness and simplicity of life.
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