Fish–People–Place:Interweaving Knowledges to Elucidate Pacific Salmon Fate

Archaeology demonstrates sustainable ancestral Coast Salish salmon stewardship over thousands of years

“…Indigenous communities from Alaska to California consider themselves salmon people, with salmon at the heart of their cultures, diets, traditions, and histories [18]. The rapid overexploitation and pollution of salmon populations by colonial settler communities that placed restrictions on Indigenous salmon stewardship and harvesting through violence has caused the loss of and damage to hundreds of Pacific salmon populations [18,19]. Many Indigenous communities from this Pacific Northwest region are finding success in bringing back traditional salmon fishery practices and techniques that were banned by colonizing governments.…”

“…Archaeological materials excavated from t e mt e mı ´xʷt e n include vast amounts of animal bones and shells (faunal material) deposited over millennia in a large formation called a shell midden [22] or cultural shell deposit, which provides a record of almost 3,000 years of history and occupation at this site [11]. One of the most abundant types of bones excavated from this midden are salmon vertebrae, demonstrating their crucial significance in the culture and sustenance of Tsleil-Waututh people and other Coast Salish communities [10,[18][19][20][21][23][24][25][26].…”