Camas bulbs were once just as an important food as salmon for Coast Salish peoples?
Every year, after the blue camas flowered, larger bulbs of the plant were dug with pointed sticks. These bulbs were the main source of carbohydrates in their diet. Famlies passed down their camas fields from generataion to generation!
Cams meadows were worked and maintained every year. Sections of turf were dug and turned over to remove the bulbs. Larger ones were kept for food and the smaller bulbs were replanted.
White flowers of the Death Camas would be indentified and removed to avoid sickness or even death.
There are many special places in Echo Heights. But the most visited ones are probably the three open fields, surrounded by forest, that put on quite a display every May.
The blooms of the Blue Camas Lilly are a sure sign of spring. Other times of the year, the fields are home to White fawn lilies, Western buttercup, Sea blush, small blue violets, the amazing native tiger lillies and other flowers.
These Camas meadows are an indicator of the rare Garry oak ecosystem, a place found nowhere else in the world except the southeast coast of Vancouver Island. These meadows are part of the fast-disappearing Coastal Douglas Fir Forests.
Did you know...
A local treasure
Camas Meadows
