A family of sea otters emerges from the ocean and rambles up the rocky shoreline, while a great blue heron in search of a meal pokes at a wall of rocks.

Fountains of water squirt upwards from clams that have buried themselves across the beach.

Ken Thomas, standing on a rocking boat just off British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 Salt Spring Island, marvels at the beauty and bounty of the ancient Fulford Harbour sea garden.

He reflects on how the long row of rocks piled along the shoreline represents both past and modern-day West Coast Indigenous culture.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 like, B次元官网网址楳y ancestors touched this, were part of building this.B次元官网网址� ItB次元官网网址檚 something more special than a pile of rocks to hold clams,B次元官网网址� said Thomas, the fisheries, wildlife and natural resources director for the Penelakut Tribe on southern Vancouver Island.

For years, academics wondered about the origins of the long string of rocks piled along the tide line. The answer came when they spoke to local First Nations, who said the rocks were sea gardens created by their ancestors as cultivation sites thousands of years ago.

Indigenous Peoples used the tides to trapclams, mussels, kelp and fish in the shallows once the water receded.

Now, Indigenous leaders hope to to gain approval for clam harvesting at the sea garden site on Salt Spring IslandB次元官网网址檚 coast, and another at nearby Russell Island in Gulf Islands National Park, both of which are undergoing restoration. They are thousands of years old.

Thomas said on a recent trip to the sites that all participants want to ensure the clams and other food from the gardens are safe to harvest, which involves testing by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Canadian Food Inspection Agencyand Environment and Climate Change Canada.

He said heB次元官网网址檚 optimistic harvesting approval could come within one year, although others suggest it could be three or four years.

Indigenous nations, Parks Canada, scientists and academics are jointly participating in the restoration of the sea gardens, located along ancestral territories of Coast Salish First Nations who travelled the Gulf Islands trading and gathering food.

The COVID-19 pandemic halted efforts to restore the sea gardens, but the rebuilding work is resuming, Thomas said.

B次元官网网址淲hen the tide comes in and out, itB次元官网网址檚 got the seeds floating around in the current, and if youB次元官网网址檝e got a wall there, the seed will get stuck behind the wall when the tide goes out and settle into the beach,B次元官网网址� said Thomas.

B次元官网网址淭hese gardens have been here for generations and generations, pre-contact,B次元官网网址� he said.

Elizabeth May, Saanich-Gulf Islands member of Parliament and former Green Party leader, said the presence of the rock walls on B.C. beaches had confounded scientists for years.

B次元官网网址淲e are, as settler-culture Canadians, blind to whatB次元官网网址檚 right in front of us,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淎 wall along the side of an island, and to know that for quite a long time our expert geologists weB次元官网网址檙e baffled by these walls. Where did they come from? How were they formed?

B次元官网网址淗ow about the obvious thing: Indigenous people moved the rocks to create a place to ensure food supplies of multiple species,B次元官网网址� said May.

The work to restore the sea gardens involves aeration, debris removal and some harvesting and marks them as much more than heritage zones, said Nicole Norris, a First Nations partnerships co-ordinator who works for the Solicitor GeneralB次元官网网址檚 Ministry.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e not just here removing and filtering rocks through a wall,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e creating a sustainable food source in the same way that our old ones did.B次元官网网址�

Adam Olsen, the Gulf Island regionB次元官网网址檚 Green representative in the B.C. legislature, said sea gardens were managed for thousands of years until colonial settlers banned Indigenous Peoples from the beaches.

B次元官网网址淭his is an example of environmental racism,B次元官网网址� said Olsen, whoB次元官网网址檚 a member of the Victoria-area Tsartlip First Nation. B次元官网网址淭hese policies are used to deliberately disconnect Indigenous people from their lands.B次元官网网址�

The work to jointly restore the sea gardens is B次元官网网址渋nspirational,B次元官网网址� considering past government policies of prohibiting access and disregarding Indigenous knowledge, said Erich Kelch, the sea garden projectB次元官网网址檚 restoration manager for Parks Canada.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 foundational how government and First Nations can be working together in a positive way on the land thatB次元官网网址檚 taking care of it for future generations,B次元官网网址� he said.

For the longest time, the government disregarded and even disbelieved the traditional Indigenous practices of managing the land, he said.

B次元官网网址淎nd this is trying to change that, recover that and restore that and build a better future,B次元官网网址� Kelch said.

Thomas said he once considered moving rocks as a form of exercise, but when heB次元官网网址檚 at the sea gardens it becomes a matter of cultural rebuilding.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 more than just a clam bed,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 more than just a rock wall. ItB次元官网网址檚 the connections there that our people have.B次元官网网址�

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press

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