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| Map courtesy the Salish Sea Institute |
Geographically it stretches from north of Vancouver, Canada to south of Seattle, Washington.
The Salish Sea encompasses the coastal waterways of the Strait of Georgia, the Strait of Juan de Fuca — including the waters around the Canadian Gulf Islands and US San Juan Islands — and into Puget Sound.
It’s fed by an enormous watershed, with snowmelt and rainfall from the region’s mountains channeled into some of the most important salmon rivers of British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon, and Idaho.
The Salish Sea meets the Pacific Ocean west of Vancouver Island and the northern tip of Washington State.
The Salish Sea is designated as “critical habitat” for the Southern Resident Killer Whales due to the many months they fish for salmon in these “inland” waters each year.
The Salish Sea is designated as “critical habitat” for the Southern Resident Killer Whales due to the many months they fish for salmon in these “inland” waters each year.
It’s bisected by the border between the US and Canada, but as salmon and killer whales know no boundaries, it’s an important and appropriate way to recognize that this is an entire ecosystem, and should be managed as such.
The name “Salish Sea” was first used in 1988 to describe this region; a name in direct acknowledgment of the Coast Salish people — WSÁNEĆ Nations, with traditional lands and territories in coastal British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.
The name “Salish Sea” was first used in 1988 to describe this region; a name in direct acknowledgment of the Coast Salish people — WSÁNEĆ Nations, with traditional lands and territories in coastal British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.
--SeaDoc Society
Our beloved home. May we recognize and treat it as such.
ReplyDeleteThank you to the creator of the map and the author of this article.
May your lives be filled with blessings
What a stunningly beautiful overview of the Salish Sea, Puger Sound, and all the waters that flow into this massive basin. Gorgeous map!
ReplyDeleteThanks to whoever made this.
It has been Puget Sound a lot longer. And why discriminate against the other tribes?
ReplyDeleteHas it, though? I mean the geographical feature has existed for millenia, long before colonialists discovered it and felt a need to give it a name.
DeleteThe Coast Salish are a diverse group of Indigenous peoples with over 40 distinct Nations, residing for over 10,000 years in the Pacific Northwest, specifically coastal British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. They share related Salishan languages, a deep connection to the Salish Sea, and a culture centered on cedar, salmon, and the potlatch.
DeletePuget Sound is only a portion of the Salish Sea and always has been. It never included the Straight of Juan de Fuca or the Georgia Straight. Nothing has changed. All tribes West of the Cascades from B.C, Canada to Southern Oregon, are included in Coastal Salish.
DeleteSybau . The salish sea peoples region encompasses the whole inland sea here in Washington and they have been stewards of the land long before Peter Puget ever existed
DeleteSybau . The salish sea peoples region encompasses the whole inland sea here in Washington and they have been stewards of the land long before Peter Puget ever existed
DeleteIf you squint really hard you might see this waterway as a sea but I think they just liked the alliteration with Salish (which really is a family of languages like Romance languages).
ReplyDelete