Salish Bounty
Salish Bounty: Traditional Native American Foods of Puget Sound
Food is the essence of culture, from the collection, to the preparation, to the serving and then the eating of food; it is what makes us who we are. It binds us to our families, our community, our history, our identity, and our home.
While there have been enormous changes in Coast Salish Native diet and culture over the centuries, a core value of food has survived: food is a blessing, gratefully and respectfully gathered and prepared, given and received with just as much gratification and respect.
The Deep History of Coast Salish Foods
Stories from the ancestors and the archeological record agree: Native Coast Salish peoples had an incredibly diverse knowledge about the food plants and animals of this region. Archaeological sites around Puget Sound have produced over 280 plant and animal species used as food. Testimony and knowledge from Coast Salish elders, hunters, fishermen, gatherers, and ethnographies has confirmed and added many more foods to that list.
Dispossession and Struggle
Enormous changes came to Coast Salish diet and culture beginning in the 1850s. Non-Indian settlers rapidly altered ecosystems and restricted access to lands and waters, making it increasingly hard for Coast Salish people to collect traditional foods. The reservation system was supposed to replace this loss, but instead it imposed new foods poorly suited to Native people’s nutritional and cultural needs. Coast Salish people struggled to adapt and keep alive the cultural values that have always guided how and what is good to eat. That struggle continues to this day.
Reviving Traditional Food Knowledge
Today, Native peoples are overcoming barriers to revitalize their relationship to traditional foods. The barriers are many—polluted shellfish beds, depleted or extinct fish runs, loss of access to land for hunting or gathering wild plant foods, forgotten recipes, the lure of fast food, and lifestyles that leave little time for food preparation and community feasts.
Many Coast Salish tribes, schools, and community groups are now working to revitalize the knowledge and values that have guided them for generations.
The core cultural values around food include:
- Food is the center of culture
- Honor the food chain
- Eat with the seasons
- Eat a variety of foods