Member-only story
One of the Oldest Spuds In the World Is Poised For a Comeback
Researchers and activists aim to revive this nutrient-dense potato in the Four Corners region
A few years ago, starch granules from a dime-sized potato were found on 10,000-year-old stone tools at an archaeological site in Escalante, Utah. Researchers say the speckled brown spud, scientifically known as Solanum jamesii, is the earliest documented potato to be consumed in North America. It also could be the first example of potato domestication, maybe even predating the Andean potato, which would make it the oldest domesticated spud in the world.
There’s now an effort underway to bring the so-called Four Corners Potato back to its place of prominence. Cynthia Wilson, director of the Traditional Foods Program for Utah Diné Bikéyah, a Native American-led nonprofit, is working with potato researchers to restore the tuber’s widespread cultivation among indigenous tribes.
At the organization’s second annual Indigenous Dinner in October 2018, Wilson snapped photos of chefs serving the Four Corners potato alongside smoked river trout, pinyon, wild onion, and sweet corn puree to tribal members whose ancestors survived off the spuds for centuries before the Spanish rode up from Mexico.
