I just did some more research on the origin of this word, and it appears to me
that it is from Nez Perce qaaws, which is their name for the root when dried.
I happen to have a Nez Perce dictionary here at home, and the term occurs in
other Sahaptian languages as well. Lewis and Clark did contact the Nez Perce
tribe, which lived in Central Idaho. This could have been their first contact
with people who ate this plant, although it was used all over the interior of
the Northwest, including Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.
Allan Taylor
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