By Maryanna Gabriel
"Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell."
Rumi
Rumi
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| Gulf Island "Clam Garden" photo from cbc.ca |
Clams
used to be so abundant. When I was growing up our family ate them a lot. It is
hard to find a good clam beach these days. The beaches here are all clammed out.
Once when I was walking on the ocean nearby I watched a boat come onto shore
and many people descended of Asian stature and persuasion with wide straw hats.
As a clump they moved in silent, orderly fashion, with downcast eyes, swiftly working
the beach for clams. I understood then one of the reasons for the disappearance of the clam. When the Coastal
Salish lived here there were apparently “clam gardens” a phenomenon only recent
understood by archaeologists. The gardens were cultivated by creating sandy areas behind piles of
rocks that became burms. It was a way to create a continuous food source for
the abundant populations. One such place was Fulford. According to a man who was
born here on Salt Spring Island and who is in his 80’s now, Fulford Harbour used to be sandy and clear
with abundant eel grasses. A huge clam garden was there. Then, loggers came. At the head of the harbour the logs were dumped along a chute. In a few years the garden
was completely gone and the eel grasses destroyed. Today it is a dank mud flat.
It is kind of a joke on us for we are only recently figuring out what the
Salish have known all along. If only I had waterfront I would get busy.