The Impact of Iroquoian Populations on the Northern Distribution of Pawpaws in the Northeast

Abstract

The North American pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is found in Michigan, southern Ontario, Ohio, and New York. It is the only indigenous tropical tree species found as far north as the Great Lakes region. The purpose of this article is to ascertain whether or not Iroquoian populations were directly responsible for the northernmost distribution of pawpaw trees. Pawpaw populations located in southern Ontario and in isolated pockets in New York are conspicuous because of their extreme northern location and their isolation from pawpaw populations to the south. Ethnohistoric and archaeological information is analyzed in an attempt to discover how coincidental it is that these isolated pawpaw populations correspond with the former habitation areas of several Iroquoian speaking groups. It is argued that trade and warfare between Iroquoian groups located in southern Ontario, New York, and the southern Lake Erie area were responsible for the spread of pawpaws from the Ohio and Michigan regions northward and eastward.