If you lived at 15,000 feet in the Andes, I suppose you would "invent" a freeze-drying process for most anything. Honestly, I've been surprised that the
stuff in the box wasn't all that bad but variety is the spice of life! At least, that is my opinion

.
Really, I should grow a fingerling even if they all seem to be late-maturing. It's a little difficult to believe that an Indian tribe have Europeans to thank for much of anything ...
This might be something else ... the C. pepo squashes were in plenty of Native North American gardens. Now, we can buy the seed for Navajo Hubbard, Mandan and Lakota squash. There is no question that these are heirlooms, by any definition. However, tissue testing apparently shows that the C. maxima squashes (differing from the pepo) all had a single South American location several hundred years ago.
Personally, I'm a little flabbergasted that the First People had time to get from one end of the continent to the other in a fairly short amount of time. Grass is always greener, I guess

. Then, turn around and move anything north, again ..?
Steve