I'm currently reading Undaunted Courage, the Stephen Ambrose account of the fascinating Lewis and Clark Expedition. As that group made their way up the Missouri and then across the nation, they encountered numerous Indian tribes. The most interesting of these so far is the Arikawa. It's a tribe that was 30,000 strong at the time we won our independence, but was decimated by several smallpox epidemics before meeting these American pioneers.
Lewis and Clark had packed whiskey, not just for themselves, but for the Indians. Most tribes wanted more than they could give. But not the Arikawa. They refused the gift, remarking that "they were surprised that their father should present to them a liquor which would make them act like fools."
The Arikawas were quite a generous people. Among their gifts was a bean they got by digging into the underground storage bins of a vole. They always left some other food in exchange for the beans they took from these voles.
Clark called the bean "large and well flavoured and very nurishing."
I did some research, and as near as I can tell, what the Arikawas gave Clark is known as the hog peanut.
According to Norton Naturals, the hog peanut "is a very appealing plant, both for its edible 'tuber', which is actually a fleshy, buried seed that is both delicious and plentiful and for its usefulness as a nitrogen-fixing ground cover, in combination with other woodland plants. The buried seeds furthermore require very little preparation besides washing and can be cooked in just a few minutes."
I suspect this plant, which looks a lot like poison ivy, grows here.
If any of you have ever tried it, I'd love to hear your story.
