Coastal First Nations used advanced cultivation techniques to intensify clam harvest

Simon Fraser University student Misha Puckett and Louie Wilson (Cape Mudge Band and Hakai Institute) excavate a shell midden associated with a clam garden that was built on a bedrock outcrop in a 2013 handout photo. (The Canadian Press)

Clam gardens call into question hunter-gatherer past of B.C. First Nation

By Geordon Omand, The Canadian Press/CBC News,  May 10, 2015

The discovery of an expansive system of historic clam gardens along the Pacific Northwest coast is contributing to a growing body of work that’s busting long-held beliefs about First Nations as heedless hunter-gatherers.

A team of researchers at Simon Fraser University has revealed that First Nations from Alaska to Washington state were marine farmers using sophisticated cultivation techniques to intensify clam production.