Chia seeds despite its new popularity, is in fact an ancient
food revered by the Mayan, Aztecs and Native Americans as early as 3500 BC.
Historical records show that they prized chia seeds for its
properties that enhanced strength, energy and endurance they needed in extreme
desert conditions such as extreme heat, dryness, and shortage of food, water
and medication.
Edward Palmer, a plant explorer wrote in 1871: “In preparing Chia for use the seeds are
roasted and ground, and the addition of water makes a mucilaginous mass several
times the original bulk, sugar to taste is added, and the result is the much
prized semi-fluid pinole of Indians and others-to me one of the best and most
nutritive foods while traveling over the deserts”.
The history of chia seeds is linked to stories of strength
and endurance. The American Indians would eat only chia seed mixed with water
as they ran from the Colorado River to the Pacific Ocean to carry messages.
Traders carried it as an all-important part of their diet while traveling from
one trading post to another. The Aztecs and Indians, when hunting, did not
always have horses to chase after their prey. Instead, they stalked the animals
on foot, sometimes running all day, carrying nothing but a pouch of Chia and
their hunting spears. No wonder they called it the ‘running food.’
When the Spanish conquerors arrived in South America under
the command of Hernando Cortez, their Jesuit chroniclers referred to chia as
the third most important crop to the Aztecs behind only corn and beans, and
ahead of amaranth . They noted how chia was revered throughout society and was
even used as tribute and taxes to the Aztec nobility. The Conquistadores saw
that chia was an integral element in their religious and spiritual culture, as
even the name itself was part of their symbol for energy and life.
Because it was so fundamental an ingredient in the Aztec
civilization, Cortez was convinced that to completely conquer the native
people, their most fundamental practices and beliefs had to be destroyed. Chia
seeds certainly fell in that category, and what followed was a systematic
campaign of burning and destruction of chia fields. Growing chia became
illegal, with the Spaniards imposing heavy fines and severe punishments on
anyone caught with the seeds in their possession.
Some chia seeds found their way to Spain, and it was there
that it was mistakenly classified as a specie native to the country. Thus the
Latin word for Chia: Salvia hispanica L.
Since the wipe-out of the Aztecs, Incas, Mayas, and other
South American cultures, Chia was left to grow wild, harvested and eaten only
by South American locals and American Indians until the early 80s when word
about a ‘super food’ began to make its way to health conscious groups.
Now, thanks to enthusiastic health-conscious marketers and
the internet, Chia is a new byword amongst food scientists, agriculturists,
nutritionists, botanists, and health food stores. Even athletes now take a
daily dosage of Chia.
It was in 1991 when a group of American and South American
scientists and agriculturists began collaborating in the commercial production
of Chia in Argentina. Thus began a project, the Northerwestern Argentina
Regional Project that provided growers with an alternative crop that turned out
to improve people’s health.
It is now grown in South America, Central America and
Australia.
