Puget Sound Traditional Food and Diabetes
Collaborative research between tribal members, health
care workers and archaeologists
Diabetes is a crisis in many Native American communities. Does
archaeology have a solution?
The Puget Sound
Traditional Food and Diabetes Project will, for the first time, use
archaeological and historic data to develop a long-term picture of Native American
diet in Puget Sound, and be a source of
information about the potentially therapeutic value of traditional foods. There
is a pressing need to address diabetes education in Native communities, which
currently suffer from disproportionately high prevalence of diabetes, a
generally late diagnosis of the disease, and the high incidence of related
complications.
Since 2003, the Tulalip Tribes, the Muckleshoot Indian
Tribe, the Suquamish Indian Tribe, King
County, and the Burke
Museum have been working with
archaeologists, historians, health scientists, and educators to research the
content and nutritional value of past Puget Sound
diets, and develop engaging educational/outreach materials about diet and
diabetes relevant to Puget Sound Native communities.
Archaeological data can help us to understand the
traditional Native American diet in the Puget Sound
area. Past excavations have recovered animal bones, plant remains, hunting
equipment and food processing tools. However, much of this information is located
in highly technical archaeological reports, which are difficult to find,
understand and interpret without archaeological training. Project partners are
working to study, interpret and summarize the existing data on pre-contact diet
from this region, and to present this information in a way that would be
accessible to any audience. One result of this project will be an inventory of
the kinds of animals and plants eaten by native peoples in different locations
and time periods. These findings will illuminate the variety of animals
(shellfish, fish, birds, mammals) and plants used in the deeper past.
These results may be of interest both to diabetes
researchers seeking a greater understanding of native people’s dietary history,
and to tribal members wishing to incorporate more traditional foods into their
diet. Along with information from traditional stories and historical documents,
this data will form the basis of education programs and future research aimed
at reducing the rate of type 2 diabetes in Puget Sound Native American
communities and improving the overall community health.
Initial support for this project was provided by a grant
from the Institute for Ethnic
Studies in the United States (IESUS), with additional support from
participating project partners and Northwest
Archaeological Associates, Inc.