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A Spaniard by the name of Francisco Pizarro with a small flotilla of 3 ships and 230 men began a journey in 1532 on the Pacific side of Panama and landed in Ecuador. He made his way through the swamps and jungles in a successful search for Inca gold. During his conquest of the Inca nation, had observed several ceremonies in which the Incas had sacrificed captives. During the sacrificial ritual, the priests had always mixed human blood with a small grain and drank this mixture. This sickened Pizarro, and he ordered that the grain fields be set afire, and commanded that any person caught growing the grain would have their hands cut off. This was just one of many tactics used by the Spanish to get the natives to convert to Christianity. For close to four hundred years, this ancient grain, Quinoa (keen-wa) the Quechua (kwe-ch-ua) Indian word for "mother" was lost to the modern world. It was only grown outside the high mountain regions of South America. Not until the 1980's was it known in the United States. although it was used in Japan shortly after World War II where it is known as hie (hee-he). Hie is not very popular in Japan since it is associated with hardship and poverty. Quinoa has been harvested since 3000 BC by the Quechua and Aymara (i-mir-a) Indians of South American region of the Andes mountain range. This area covers parts of Chile, Peru and Bolivia and has the distinction of being the most continuously farmed region in the world.
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