Explorers and Pioneers found the Northwest covered with Luxury Forest Farms. They just did not (or wished not to) understand. These were wide swaths of land planted for 1,000s of years with a focus on native species (crabapples, camas or ~100 plants (of 900 native) covered in the Gardens’ Courses.  All these plants’ edible portions were very small in size; 20 different species’ nuts, roots or fruits might fit in one’s hand.  This was not the case for Indigenous Peoples elsewhere in the Americas.   Work-intensive Row Farms (the “3 sisters,” bean, squash, and corn plantings of the rest of the Americas and the potatoes of the Incas) were of larger sizes.  Their absence most likely was caused by ocean currents and the mountain ranges that isolated inhabitants.  That is, what caused the 3 Sisters or Potatoes (until the Spaniards planted their garden in 1788 at Nootka Bay) or the potato from being present in the Northwest were ocean currents that flowed swiftly down the coast in 15,000 BC just as they do today.  Paddle a canoe south past the Siskiyous and land to wander to water, and you will most likely (then) be among the Navajo (Athabaskan language set like the Tlingit).  Our study of the history of the NW Pacific Rim is unique, all our courses will focus on the plants and culture contributions unique in the history of the World … or the lack of fragile food supplies.  Eliminate food from December to March for any population and one guarantees death (Irish and Norse potato famines attesting), eliminate vegetables and one can survive (for a period of time).  It was a tough, but livable place.  The strong southernly Pacific currents stalled agriculture species importation, perhaps population growth, and made our area one of the last visited by European explorers.

https://oceanblueproject.org/ocean-currents-map/
https://wsdot.wa.gov/TNBhistory/exploration-by-sea.htm
https://www.yahoo.com/news/researchers-discovering-zombie-forests-places-113000061.html 
https://www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/cspn/Website/Classroom%20Materials/Pacific%20Northwest%20History/Lessons/Lesson%203/3.html 
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/nature-photographer-discovers-ancient-freak-020000113.html
https://www.quora.com/If-vegetables-are-so-important-how-do-the-Inuit-get-by-without-them
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=hierarchy+of+needs&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image

The foods that provided carbohydrates and vitamins to Cascadia and Rocky Mountain Indigenous Peoples were the:

Corn, Squash, & Beans (the three sisters)
Potato & Tomato
None of the above

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