The #ClamGardens #RestorationProject has reclaimed #W̱SÁNEĆ knowledge, improved #ecosystems and provided the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation with additional funding.

From 2014 to 2019, #ParksCanada, the #W̱SÁNEĆNation and the #Hulquminum #FirstNations participated in the Clam Garden Restoration project.

Clam gardens are #AncientSites along shorelines in W̱SÁNEĆ territory that #Indigenous people tended for thousands of years to enhance the production of #clams and related sea creatures. Clams were an important source of protein for W̱SÁNEĆ people. The Clam Restoration project spent 5 years working to restore clam gardens in W̱SÁNEĆ territory. In addition to improving the #ecology of two clam gardens, the project also aimed to reclaim W̱SÁNEĆ knowledge, practices and culture related to clam gardens.

Learn more & sign up to help out:
https://wsanec.com/the-clam-garden-restoration-project/

#FairySlipper #wildflower in backyard.
Corms are used as wild #FoodSource by #NorthAmerican #Indigenous peoples. #Nlakapamux #FirstNation of #BritishColumbia used it as a treatment for mild epilepsy. Bumblebees love them.

#CooleysHedgenettle is native to #PacificNorthwest from Cali to Alaska. Very abundant on #VancouverIsland & #CoastalBC.

#PerennialHerb in the #mint family. #FoodSource & #MedicinalPlant used by #PNW #Indigenous #FirstNations peoples.

#PacificSilverweed is abundant throughout #PNW into Alaska & Arctic. Longtime important #FoodSource for #PacificNorthwest #Indigenous peoples. In BC, patches of them were protected under #potlatch #FirstNations family law.

You can note patch locations when flowers appear & then dig up roots in late Fall & Winter. The roots taste like bitter sweet potatoes.

Solanum jamesii #flowers

This wild #potato was used by #ancestral #Puebloans as a #FoodSource . It's being grown by the #Navajo as a specialty #food as well as a #FoodCrop . In the #nightshade family.

The #Na̱mǥis #FirstNation located in #AlertBay on #BritishColumbia #WestCoast has relied on #salmon as a main #FoodSource for thousands of years.
Salmon are #sacred for #Indigenous people living there, but that #legacy is now #threatened by long-term consequences of #industrial #FishFarms over the last 3 decades.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/climate/impacts/power-to-the-people-alert-bay-salmon-impacts

Namgis are one of several BC native ppls I've worked w/ to #ProtectWildSalmon over many yrs. #WildSalmon are #KeystoneSpecies & are #AtRisk