SUN CHOKE

The Spirit of the South by Manitu Okahas

Sun and Earth living in balance
Food and medicine for healthy life
Native wisdom within the plants
Food hidden by a beautiful sight

Habialaipen or sun root is known as sunchoke or Jerusalem artichoke by western culture.  This beautiful perennial sunflower, Helianthus tuberosus, is an iconic native to much of North 
America.  Along with the three sisters, this was one of the primary food crops cultivated by Native Americans across much of the Eastern Woodlands.  This valuable crop was taken to Europe in the 17th century, where it became an emergency food source there as well.

I'm going to preface the rest of this article with the understanding that 90% or more of Native Americans were killed by European diseases shortly after colonization.  For this and other reasons, much of the cultural wisdom has been lost and we are often turning to the plants themselves to retrieve as much as we can.

In the case of sun choke, this has been an emergency food source if not a primary food source for thousands of years in North America.  Once it was planted and established, it did, and still does, thrive in its location for many years.  Its above ground parts provide food for wild life, birds, and butterflies.  Its primary value for humans is as a highly nutritious root.  When it was introduced into Europe, most Europeans thought that it was just a pretty flower.  However, in times of war, famine, and raiding, sunchoke became a critical survival crop for those who knew what it was as it was overlooked as a "useless ornamental" by the uninformed masses.

This highly nutritious root can be consumed raw, roasted, fried, or boiled.  It can be ground for flour and thickening.  Sunchoke is high in iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and other critical trace minerals.  It contains the fiber inulin and the bitter heliogine.  According to the National Institutes of Health, sunchoke has beneficial health effects for heart health, protection against diabetes, regulation of blood sugar, and protection against cancer, and other health effects.

While I have not personally had a meal of sunchoke, I have helped a friend manage her patch.  I can attest to the fact that it is highly productive and vigorous.  The primary downside seems to be that it can cause intestinal gas.  This effect is reduced after a hard frost kills back the foliage in the fall.

Like many plants native to the United States, there is not a lot of esoteric information on sunchoke.  Therefore, some of this is extrapolated from this being a sunflower.  This is a plant of confidence and action, of personal power and boundaries.  It brings with it the positive flow of light energy and clarity of thought.  In sunchoke, this is balanced with the stability and grounding of Earth magic.  This is a beautiful balancing of Sun and Earth, masculine and feminine, that encourages us to live in the flow of the cycle of life.

This  large, multi-stemmed sunflower draws me to it wherever I find it.  Whether it is in my friend's garden, or the patch down at the river, this beautiful plant both uplifts and grounds.  It is an energy that is rooted firmly in place and yet reaches for the sky.

A digital download of the featured artwork is available on Buy Me a Coffee.
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Spirit of the South available at Buy Me a Coffee

Sources for this article include:
The website for The National Institutes of Health
wildedible.com
lakewinds.coop
apalacheresearch.com