New study confirms Tsleil-Waututh Nation's rich pre-colonial diet

New research between the slilwta (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) and the University ofBritishColumbia shows how the nation's diet was varied and rich in nutrition andcame from abundant food sources in what is now southwestern B.C.

While the nation's diet spanned all manner of mammals, marine life and fowl, the research which used archeological records and Indigenous oral histories to piece together what was on the menu between AD 1000 and European contact in the late 18th century found its four main pillars were salmon, forage fish, shellfishand marine birds.

The study's lead author, UBC PhD candidate Meaghan Efford, said the Burrard Inletprovided ceaseless nourishment before settlers arrived, with thriving populations of Pacific salmon, Pacific herring, eulachon, surf smelt, anchovies, flatfish and sturgeonuntouched by colonization and industrialization.

The inlet,which today separates Vancouver from the North Shore,"provided so much food for thousands of years, mainly because the Tsleil-Waututh Nation were using specific stewardship and cultivation techniques that ensured their harvest was sustainable over that period of time," she said.

Efford said the ancestral diet would have been incredibly high in protein, with each person consuming over 200 grams per day, on average. Today, the recommended allowance for protein is around 0.8 gramsper kilogram of body weight, equating toaround 60 gramsfor a person weighing 75 kilograms (165 pounds).

As a result of the consumption of marine fowl like dabbling ducks, large amounts of fat in the diet would have combated the cardiovascular diseases, blood vessel disorders and organ issues that can be brought on by high-protein diets, said Efford.

'When the tide was out, the table was set'

The study,A Fish-Focused Menu: An Interdisciplinary Reconstruction of Ancestral Tsleil-Waututh Diets, is part of wider PhD research Efford has carried out alongside the nationto learn about more of its pre-colonial existence.

The majority of the findings confirmmuch of what the Tsleil-Waututh havebeen proclaiming for decades, said Efford.

Michelle George, a cultural and technical specialist at the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, said stories of a Burrard Inlet teeming with life have been passed down from generation to generation, but the picture painted is so different to what remains today thatthe stories feel more like folk tales than fact.

"My family always told me that when the tide was out, the table was set, and there would be more than enough food to feed a family, feed a large community, and have leftovers to feed on the next day," she said.

"That was continuous, every day. All of Burrard Inlet was a clam bed."

George said Efford's research provided support and reassurance to the nation, whichsays its oral history has long been ignored in favour of Western science.

The scientific "back-up" should spur a more serious response from local communities and environmental groups, who often need official stats and figures to feel compelled to make a change, she said.

While there is "still a lot of work to do,"George said, efforts to rewild and restore the inlet have gained traction in recent yearsand the fruits of those efforts are starting to become apparent.

Last spring, the nation's Treaty, Lands and Resources departmentcompleted a four-year marine restoration projectdesigned to protect and preserve the inlet. The undertaking included eelgrass and native plant restoration alongside the removal of creosote waste and marine debris.

Healthy habitats will encourage the bounce-back of marine life, which in turn will replenishthe Tsleil-Waututh diet and helpeducate the community about their own culture, said George.

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"We have a lot of elders returning to reserves after a lifetime spent away.They're coming back and finding their family, and a lot of those people want to be taught about their Tsleil-Waututh diet," she said.

"Information like this is crucial because then we get to teach them what their family used to eat. Maybe then those people can go on to try seafood for the first time. It's about bringing this culture, this way of living, back to our people."

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