Clam Garden Network

Adapted from the Clam Garden Network website.

The Clam Garden Network (CGN) is a diverse community of First Nations, academics, researchers, and resource managers from British Columbia, Washington State, and Alaska who are interested in the cultural and ecological importance of clam gardens, including traditional clam management. Clam gardens, or sea gardens as they are also known, are ancient intertidal features constructed by coastal First Nations of British Columbia (Canada) and Native Americans of Washington State and Alaska (US) to enhance shellfish productivity and to feed the people. The Network shares ideas, research approaches, tools, and data to better inform knowledge about how people use and care for intertidal resources and ecosystems. 

Sea gardens have been in existence for thousands of years, from our early ancestors to the children that are learning the cultural stewardship applications today; it is a revival of a cultural practice and chapters of language…. Sea gardens are the golden thread of bringing nations together in the spirit of Nuts’a Mawwt, working together towards a common goal of recreating our relationship with the original spaces we stewarded, exercising our inherent rights and continuing the heart beat of our culture”. 

~ Nicole Norris, Halalt First Nation and CGN Steering Committee Member

Clam gardens are a compelling focal point for a series of interconnected current social issues, including food security, First Nations governance, and inter-generational knowledge sharing. The Network seeks to deepen knowledge through collaborations across communities and disciplines, with a hope of stimulating conversions and actions that support Indigenous community self-determination and resurgence.

For more information visit the Clam Garden Network website.