Dec 21, 2016
By Michael Kramer
First Nations people along Canada’s west coast were tending wetland gardens as far back as 38 – hundred years ago.
An archeological firm owned by the Katzie First Nation in B-C’s Lower Mainland – has found evidence that the nation’s ancestors engineered the wetland environment to increase yields of the “wapato” – a semi-aquatic tuber which was an important source of starch over the winter months.
Researchers unearthed a platform of closely packed flat stones – that would’ve sat a few metres underwater – to keep the tuber’s growth in-check.
The story is published online in Science Advances.
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