‘Irish’ potatoes?
Author’s note: this is another installment in our occasional series “If you ate today, thank an American Indian.”
As we approach the holiday season, we begin to think about the bounty of the holiday table.
For the holiday known to most Americans as Thanksgiving, the entire table is traditionally set with Native American foods such as turkey, cornbread stuffing, and potatoes. For our discussion today, we will limit our commentary to potatoes.
Until recently, the variety of potatoes most commonly used on the modern table were referred to as “Irish” potatoes, to differentiate them from sweet potatoes. I don’t hear the “Irish” reference much anymore, I guess it fell to the guardians of political correctness. Nowadays they are referred to by various other names, Russet, Idaho, Etc. By whatever name they are known by, potatoes were brought to us by the Indigenous People of the Americas.
The Irish moniker, as it relates to potatoes is largely thanks to the potato famine which struck Ireland beginning in the mid-1840s. Thanks largely to the greed of English landlords and the manner in which they managed the estates they seized from the Irish, more than a million people perished in the famine and many more fled the island, most came to the United States, permanently joining Ireland and potatoes in the popular imagination. But potatoes were not native to Ireland or any other part of Europe, they were an import from the New World. An import valued for its cheapness and resistance to spoilage.
We do not know for sure when the civilizations of the New World first began to practice advanced agriculture, such as the breeding of different varieties maize and potatoes. The best guesses the archeological community can come up with fall somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago, but it may have been longer than that as the field of archeology in the New World still has
much to discover, and in many ways still suffers from substantial confirmation bias.
But, there is some general agreement that maize and potatoes were domesticated about the same time. To really understand the length of time we are talking about requires some perspective.
The oldest known civilizations of the ancient Near East date to around 5,000 years ago. If the dating of those civilizations is accurate, then it gives us some perspective. The dating would seem to indicate that the civilizations of the New World were several thousand years ahead of the communities which are generally considered to be the cradle of advanced civilization.
If the practice of advanced agriculture is to be considered the cornerstone of advanced civilization, and there is general agreement to that effect, then it would seem to indicate that the cradle of civilization is in the New World rather than elsewhere; considering that the practice of advanced agriculture in the New World predates the Sumer civilization by forty to fifty centuries.
In other words, while the tribes of the Mesopotamian plain were still running around eating weeds, the people of the New World had already achieved a level of advancement which would not reach the Near East for a very long time. Perhaps we will learn more of this genius as the field of New World archaeology becomes more advanced and less susceptible to confirmation bias.
As we approach the holiday season, and especially thanksgiving, take a moment to consider the bounty of the table. Turkey, cornbread, potatoes, and many other dishes, limited only by the imagination of the chef. All of it, or almost all of it, consisting of traditional Native American foods. Let us always give thanks, give thanks to the Great Spirit, give thanks for the workers who bring us our groceries.
Take time to find some charity in your heart for your neighbors, both near and far. Pray for those who are suffering. And remember, if you ate today, thank an American Indian.