Indigenous communities have been creating clam gardens for more than 4000 years in the Pacific Northwest, but the practice had all but disappeared until it was revived earlier this month by members of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in northern Puget Sound.
Project manager and marine ecologist with the Swinomish Tribe, Courtney Greiner, describes the effort as a biocultural restoration project, which restores both the ecosystem and human cultural relationships. “The [tribal] community is concerned, not only about the future loss of traditional harvest sites from sea level rise and impacts to the health of shellfish due to the changing water conditions, she says, but the subsequent loss in intergenerational knowledge sharing, food security, and identity.”
The Swinomish reservation is located in Northern Washington on Fidalgo Island, and has over 3000 acres of tidelands. To choose an optimal site, the project team completed a geospatial analysis, informed by a technical advisory board consisting of Coast Salish knowledge holders, Swinomish Tribal members, and scientists. Fifteen potential sites were identified and ranked based on physical and socio-cultural factors. The top ranked sites were then presented to members of the Swinomish Tribe, who were asked to give their preference for location and desired use for the clam garden.
Survey data showed that tribe members plan to use the garden primarily for ceremonial and subsistence harvest and teaching intergenerational knowledge. Commercial harvest and research were identified as secondary priorities. Greiner says, “The more we learned about this ancient practice, the more we realized that this was an ideal climate adaptation strategy that addressed all concerns of the [tribal] community.