Mystery: Who Brought Beans to the Lenape and Mahicans in the 1300s?

[GreatGazoo]

2. Thanks for all of that!

I am narrowing it down to varieties which would thrive in temperate climates and which had vining / climbing forms. I grow beans here and know firsthand that even the one which are good in this area (NY) need soil temps above 65F, closer to 70F to germinate. This limits the season. Once beans are established you can pick them all season and the plant will replace them. Great, but our season is limited by the lack of sufficient heat until mid-May or later.

I am thinking now that finding the Haudenosaunee name(s) for the specific climbing beans they use(d) would be a clue to where they came from. The arrival of new seeds is a fundamental part of their spirituality as told in the myth of Sky Woman. I could also have another look at the work of Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Also, thanks to your input, I need to look at how corn arrives here from its origins in west central Mexico well before beans. Which leads me to looking at which plant could be adapted to colder climates the fastest. Corn is a selectively bred modification of teosinte, a grass. Seems likely that grasses are generally more cold hardy than vining legumes but I will check.