Paleo Foraging

Amaranthus palmeri S.Watson

Common names: Carelessweed, Palmer amaranth

Hopi: komótoshu (Hough 1897:38)

Tohono O’odham: tcuhukia (Castetter and Underhill 1935:14)

Location in Texas: all TX; not uncommon in Travis Co.

Form: herb; annual.

Food

Seeds – ground into meal or parched and chewed by the Navajo (Elmore 1944:45). The seeds were an important food source of the Tohono O’odham (Castetter and Underhill 1935:24). Seeds were winnowed in a basket, parched by shaking in a basket with hot coals, and sun-dried before storing (Castetter and Underhill 1935:24).

Leaves – eaten by the Tohono O’odham as greens and sometimes made into soup (Castetter and Underhill 1935:14,15). They were an important food source when in season (Castetter and Underhill 1935:15).

Gathering Season – leaves: July and August (Castetter and Underhill 1935:14). Seeds: September (Castetter and Underhill 1935:24).

Material

Seeds – used by the Hopi for dyeing a ceremonial bread red (Hough 1897:39). Hough (1897:39) may be mistaken as Fewkes (1896:18) states
Amaranthus cruentus
was used for this purpose, which given red amaranth’s vibrant seed color, is a more plausible candidate for this dye source.

Amaranthus palmeri S.Watson in GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-04-17.