Ozette Potatoes - Washington's oldest Potato species and the history behind it

The Ozette potato, Solanum tuberosum, or more locally known as Makah Ozette or Anna Cheeka's Ozette, is the oldest grown potato species in the Pacific Northwest. This plant was grown and cultivated for over two centuries by the native Makah tribe. To learn about the potato, we first must learn about the people who used it as a primary agricultural food source for so long.

The Makah (which translates to "the people who live by the rocks and seagulls") people have been living in the Northwest tip of the Olympic Pennisula for around 3,800 years. The tribe lived around what is now Neah Bay, Washington. They built their villages and longhouses out of the local populations of Western Cedar tree. The Western Cedar was vital to their way of life. They used its bark to make water-resistant clothing and bags. They used trunks to make canoes and roots to make baskets. 

A Makah Settlement (1900)

The Makah diet consisted of mostly seal, fish, shellfish, and whale with Ozette potatoes as a filler or side. Tribeswomen also harvested nuts, fruits, and edible roots and plants. They also hunted occasionally for local deer and elk populations. The Makah people grew primarily Ozette potatoes. 

The origin of the Ozette potato is from early historical accounts of Spaniards who arrived in the NW in the late 18th century. The Spaniards built Fort Salvador Fidalgo, now Neah Bay in 1792. The gardens at this fort contained several 'New World' plants such as potatoes and tomatoes, with one of these potatoes being the Ozette potato. In the 1860's, a schoolteacher who lived among Makah, James Swan, indicated that the potato was a staple of the tribe's diet. The potato was exclusively grown in Makah gardens until 1980 when it was marked by a seed vendor in Idaho. 

A phylogenetic study done at the Washington State University showed that the potato may have directly originated from South America while all other potato varieties arrived from European imports.