Clam Garden Network

Clam gardens are ancient intertidal features constructed by coastal First Nations of British Columbia (Canada) and Native Americans of Washington State and Alaska (USA), to enhance shellfish productivity and to feed the people. They are one of many techniques and practices enacted by Indigenous Peoples to maintain or increase the production of culturally important foods, including clams. These practices are encompassed within age-old social, economic, and spiritual beliefs and practices of coastal First Peoples. Indigenous Peoples throughout the Pacific Northwest Coast are reclaiming these traditional practices as a means to enhance food security and sovereignty by creating sustainable food systems, to support claims to rights and title to local marine ecosystems, and to reconnect with and revive ancestral practices.