Groundnuts (Apios Americana)

Issue 2 explores the history, ecology, and language of the Groundnut (Apios americana), an Indigenous food long cultivated and harvested across Turtle Island. Through archival research, Indigenous language records, ethnobotanical sources, and historical accounts, it traces how groundnuts functioned as a high-protein staple, a soil-building nitrogen fixer, and a food embedded in Indigenous stewardship. The zine highlights the many Indigenous names for the plant, examines colonial suppression of Native foraging practices, and seeks Native voices to reconnect the plant with its agricultural and cultural context. We invite readers to reconsider groundnuts not as a wild plant, but as a staple food in need of further research.