Theodore de Bry,(Belgian, 1528-1598), The Towne of Secot, engraving, 1590, from a watercolor drawing by John White (English, c. 1540-c. 1593), 1585-86.  Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Washington, D.C., LC-USZC4-5267.

Secotan Indian Village

This 1590 engraving of the Secotan Indian village on Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina is probably the first visual depiction of a pumpkin patch. The field of large, orange vegetables enveloped in leafy greens is located in the center of the picture frame. Because of the crop’s importance to many American Indians’ diets, it, along with corn and beans, figured prominently in oral traditions. According to the Iroquois, the Great Spirit created squash and her sisters corn and beans at the beginning of time to provide food to sustain the human race. Nicolas Perrot noted of the Iroquois in 1700, “If they are without these, they think they are fasting, no matter what abundance of meat and fish they have in their stores.”