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| Alastair Lee Bitsóí, Diné, holds a harvest of Four Corners Potatoes in a Diné Basket at his farm in the Navajo Nation. Photo Credit: Alastair Bitsóí |
Local Indigenous foods: the Four Corner’s potato (Solanum jamesii).
Most of the world’s potatoes are descendants of a single South American native potato species, Solanum tuberosum, but Utah’s native potato is a different species.
Within the last 100-150 years, the Four Corner’s potato has largely been forgotten with few people (Indigenous and Non-Indigenous) recalling its abundance and importance.
That has changed within the last few years; the Four Corner’s potato is being revived as a native food.
Researchers from the University of Utah, primarily headed by Lisbeth Louderback, identified potato starch residue preserved on 10,000-year-old artifacts in the Escalante region of Utah.
That discovery prompted researchers to look for, and find, patches of wild Four Corner’s potato growing near the archaeolgocial site.
The Four Corners potato plant grows well in the high desert of New Mexico and it grows much more sparsely in Utah, often near archaeological sites; this, along with reduced genetic diversity measured within the Utah potato population, suggest that potatoes were brought to the Escalante region by ancient people- likely from what is now New Mexico.
In modern times, Indigenous farmers and researchers have been sharing their experiences with growing, harvesting, and preparing the native potato.
Cynthia Wilson and Alastair Lee Bitsóí, both Diné, have publicly discussed their revival work of the Four Corner’s potato.
Alastair is relearning how to grow the plant on his farm and he continues the practice of redistribution.
Cynthia has talked about her ancestors’ methods to prepare the food, including boiling the potato with bentonite clay- a traditional Diné method to reduce bitterness.
Researchers have called the Four Corner’s potato the “fourth sister” or “lost sister” as an indication of its importance as a native food. This is of course a reference to the three sisters- corn, beans, and squash.
Collaboration on the Four Corner’s potato continues.
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