Underground Explorers

Shell midden sites in coastal British Columbia include semi-saline shoreline, forested and estuary ecosystems where Indigenous people have stewarded food-system ecologies, Culturally Modified Cedar groves, ancient village sites, and Indigenous Forest Gardens. We refer to these places as Cultural Keystone Ecosystems where Indigenous people have stewarded reciprocal relations since time-immemorial. These culturally sacred places have been profoundly impacted by forestry operations and are still at-risk. Shell middens are large deposits of shells, fish bones, ancient fire-pits, and other materials associated with traditional village sites. These sites represent an opportunity to understand the ecological role that traditional practices play in shaping the soil, plant community and chemical composition of these landscapes within the CWH biogeoclimatic zone. Studying underground dynamics of these sites can help build regenerative land-stewardship practices guided by Traditional Ecological Knowledge which will be used by communities to heal the land.