Succotash

In a handwritten letter accompanying a 17-seed sample he sent to SSE, Bernie Pettis from Sturgis, South Dakota, wrote, “I am sending you some succotash beans. My grandfather was a Narragansett Indian from Rhode Island, and he often told me about succotash, which he said was a staple food for the Narragansett tribe. When I was 14, he gave me some of these beans, and I have been growing them ever since. I am now 73 years old.” Bernie mentioned that neither he nor the beans have any cultural affiliation with the Narragansett tribe. In his opinion, the beans do not represent the intellectual or cultural property of the Narragansett nation. “They are just beans that my grandfather gave to me, and he happened to be of Narragansett descent,” he stated.