Sunroot use among First Nations

[Terry J. Klokeid]

Dear colleagues:

I have a small seed selling operation and one of the plants I carry is the
sunroot, Helianthus tuberosus.

I am hoping to obtain more information about the use of this plant by
Indians of Canada and the USA, as well as leads on the etymology of the
name 'sunroot'.

A member of the sunflower family, this plant has a tall stalk, similar to
that of the sunflower, Helianthus annuus. Some varieties of sunroot, in a
suitable climate, produce small flowers similar to the sunflower, though no
viable seeds have ever been documented. Instead, the sunroot propagates
through its underground tubers  There are many dozens of varieties of the
plant, with tubers ranging in size from small carrot to small pumpkin, and
colours from bright white to tan to brown to red. Flavours vary just as
much (as my seed catalogue demonstrates).

You may know the sunroot under another name such as Jerusalem artichoke, or
sunchoke, or topinambo(u)r.

The sunroot is a native plant of Canada and adjacent parts of the USA.

While its homeland is the eastern half of this country and its neighbour to
the south, in Algonquian and Iroquoian territory, there is some evidence
that sunroots were used by First Nations as far west as the Salish Sea,
where I live.

If anyone on this list has information about use of sunroots amomg First
Nations, I would be most grateful to hear from them.

When Samuel de Champlain was discovered on the shores of what are now the
Maritime provinces, he was given some tubers to take back to Europe.
Somehow the plant got confused with the tropical Calathea aliciae, and
hence the French name, 'le topinambour', variously attributed to Arawak or
Carib; possibly it is the same in both languages.

When sunroot tubers reached London via a Dutch farm at Ter Neusen, Cockney
rhyming slang came up with the humorous name 'artichoke of Jerusalem'.
(The folk etymology, which derives 'Jerusalem' from Italian 'girasole',
overlooks the facts that (1)  '*artichoke of girasole' fits no nominal
pattern of English while 'artichoke of Ter Neusen' is perfectly ordinary,
and (2) - perhaps more subtley for the layman yet obvious to any linguist
on this list --   'girasole' and 'Jerusalem' have quite distinct stress
patterns, so the latter could not be a simple assimilation of the former.
I also wonder how many Cockney market sellers were familiar enough with
both the Italian language and botanical taxonomy, to be able to tranfer
'girasole' from the species Helianthus annuus to the related sp. Helianthus
tuberosus, since sunroots flower only rarely in the English climate, and so
this would not be an obvious attribute to anyone who grew them there.   --
But whatever the correct etymology of J.A. may be, my interest lies not in
the Euro-terminology, but in the name 'sunroot' and the provenance of the
plant in our own country as well as the USA.)

Some people have claimed that the name 'sunroot' is based on the original
(presumably Algonquian) name (Or  Iroquoian name? Anybody happen to have a
copy of Champlain's diaries at hand? I wasn't really paying attention in
grade 5 social studies, when we did eastern Canada, and am rather vague
about just where Champlain travelled.)

Given this possible origin of the name 'sunroot', I am keen to learn what
the name for this plant and its tubers might be --in any Algonquian,
Iroquoian, or other Indian language.

On another aspect -- Some programs, both here in BC and elsewhere, are
supplying sunroot tubers for Indian seniors to eat, due to the high
incidence of diabetes. The sunroot contains its carbohydratyes in the form
of inulin, which can be readily digested by diabetics.  I would be happy to
share more informatuon about this, and if you know anyone who would like to
grow sunroots for such purposes, I'll be happy to send them my catalogue,
which describes about 7 of the 20 varieties that I grow.

With best wishes,
Terry

Terry J. Klokeid, Ph.D.
Amblewood Organic Farm
126 Amblewood Drive, Fulford Harbour
Salt Spring Island BC V8K 1X2
Voice/Fax (250) 653-4099
email  amblewood at mail.com

"On a trouvé en bonne politique, le secret de faire mourir de faim ceux
qui, en cultivant la terre, font vivre les autres." (Voltaire)