Tribe works to restore tasty Olympia oyster
SQUAXIN ISLAND -- The mud sucks at Brian Allen's hip boots as he walks across the beach, searching for the elusive Olympia oyster.
The tiny, tasty oyster once covered southern Puget Sound beaches like a white blanket, and played a starring role in local Indian tribes' diet and economy.
But pollution drove the Olympias to the brink of extinction during the 20th century.
Now the Squaxin Island Tribe is working to restore Olympias to their rightful dominance, both on the beaches and on their dinner tables.
Allen, a tribal shellfish biologist, liked what he saw one morning this summer on the eastern shore of Squaxin Island.
"They're all over the place. This is dynamite," he said.
The Olympia oysters the tribe planted two years ago have spawned a successful wild oyster bed. But why the fragile, fickle Olympias thrive on one beach and wither on another remains a mystery.
For biologists, it's a scientific puzzle. For tribal members, saving the Olympia oysters may be the key to preserving an important part of their culture.
Salmon are the iconic animal for Puget Sound tribes. Tribes still celebrate the big yearly runs of salmon from the ocean to the rivers with ceremonies and feasts. But if salmon are the special guest stars, oysters were the daily bread.
"It was a constant food source for the tribes," said Jim Peters, natural resources director for the Squaxin Island Tribe. They ate Olympias nearly every day -- raw, steamed in fire pits on the beach, or dried and smoked. Families would string the oysters together and hang them in their rafters to dry, so garlands of Olympia oysters decorated every Squaxin Islander's home.
Olympias are unlike any other oyster. They're small, with shells about the size of a silver dollar and oysters about the size of a quarter. Legend has it that early civic boosters plied Washington leaders with the tasty native oysters to persuade them to put the capitol in Olympia. Their delicate and complex flavor has been described as mild, salty-sweet, creamy, nutty and metallic.
To Squaxin Island tribal members old enough to remember when Olympia oysters were plentiful, they simply taste like home.
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Tribe works to restore tasty Olympia oyster