Camassia or camas is one of the most essential cultural foods in Coast Salish territory. Historically, countless Native families traveled great distances and camped for several weeks to dig enough bulbs to last the upcoming year until the next harvesting season. Early non-Native settlers in northwestern Washington State witnessed Native-tended and maintained camas prairies as ripe for conversion to monoculture farms and homesteads. Most of the camas prairies in the area were settled and, as a result, the Swinomish Tribe has had an interruption in access to camas for several generations. However, small ancestral populations have been found in isolated spots on and near the Swinomish Reservation. With these discoveries, the Tribe has renewed interest in camas as a traditional food and camas prairie management techniques. The intent of this project was to increase camas growth, management, and utilization on Swinomish Reservation. We created methodologies for camas test plot installation and management to document the most efficient and sustainable conditions for growing the two species of camas, Camassia quamash and Camassia leichtlinii, on Swinomish farmland. Over the course of the project, we employed adaptive measures in weed management, data collection, harvesting techniques, and storage and cooking methods. Our community outreach has included camas harvests, camas foods gatherings, annual cultural burns, a published children’s book on camas, trips to regional prairies for native plant learning and seed collection, and a camas preparation test kitchen, which renew interest in and accessibility to camas for the Swinomish people.
Cascadia Prairie-Oak Partnership
Providing coordination for the technical prairie community in the Willamette Valley, Puget Trough, Georgia Basin (WPG) ecoregion and beyond.