The pre-history of squash - guess where it came from!

To the reader: The links in this post include references, photos, recipes, and books. I could have displayed the photos but not without the danger of violating copyright laws. I hope you enjoy them on the linked sites, especially the ones linked to the story about the San Xavier mission.

Squash appears to be a New World plant. All the earliest archaeological finds of the cultivation of squash have occurred somewhere in the middle Americas. (This is not true of melons and gourds close relatives of squash.) Here are some interesting facts about the early cultivation of squash:

• Early (9000 BC) squash fragments in the form of phytoliths ("vegetable stones", or fossilized lumps of vegetable matter) were found in a cave in Guerrero Mexico (along with corn residue).
• Squash seeds were found in Oaxaca Mexico dating back 10,000 years. This article is from 1997, so the interpretation is somewhat dated. However, the date and identification of the squash seed are still considered correct today. 
• Squash was grown by Native Americans before the arrival of Columbus. They ate the flesh, flowers, even the stems. But the most popular part was the seeds, perhaps the only source of oils for their diet.
• A favorite Mexican meal, called Pipian Rojo, was made with squash seeds, tomatoes, and chilies. 
• In dry tropical regions such as at the early sites in Mexico as well as the American Southwest, squash was grown by the sides of seasonal streams that caught the run-off of summer storms. These streams supplied the needed irrigation.
• Squash is a core food in the Native American traditional diet of many communities . One example is the Tohono O'odham, the Desert People of Southern Arizona.

South of Tucson, out in the broad floodplain of the Santa Cruz river, a cathedral rises up like a vision. It is called San Xavier del Bac, a mission founded by Father Eusebio Kino in about 1650. Next to this lovely building is a small museum. Photos of traditional agriculture show temporary shelters where Tohono O'odham farmers rested during the flood season, when they could take advantage of the seasonal monsoons to irrigate their crops. 

They grew what had been grown there for millennia, namely squash, corn, chilies, tepary beans, and a few others. These formed their diet, along with the occasional deer or javelina (wild relative of the pig). 

When the rains stopped, the community moved to more hospitable living quarters back in their home communities.

When Europeans arrived and set up the mission, they were unfamiliar with the seasonal migration routine and prevailed upon the Tohono O'odham to settle down into their communities and no longer follow the seasonal planting cycle.

So the Desert People had no choice but to begin to eat the foods the Europeans ate. Today the Tohono O'odham have the highest incidence of diabetes of any Native American community. 

Organizations are working to restore native foods to these native people.

Outside the museum, surrounding the entrance to the cathedral, booths made of native plants serve traditional chili and (perhaps not so traditional) fry bread to tourists. It alone is worth the visit.