wapato

A North American Indigenous term for the broadleaf arrowhead plant and its starchy, edible tubers, which were a significant food source for many Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes regions. Wapato tubers were gathered from shallow lakes and wetlands and consumed boiled or roasted. The word entered English via trade and contact with Indigenous communities, and survives in place names and ethnobotanical literature. Lewis and Clark documented wapato as a dietary staple among Indigenous peoples they encountered.