Dogwinkles, of unspecified species, are reported to have been consumed by the Coast Salish, Obsidian and Queen Charlotte Straight cultures [1, 2]. Dogwinkles, of unspecified species, were gathered by Tlingit women who removed them with a prying stick or by hand. The shells were often used to embellish the fringes of baskets and clothing [3].

Frilled dogwinkles used to be harvested in large numbers by the Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth) of Vancouver Island [4].

Remains of file dogwinkle, channeled dogwinkle, and frilled dogwinkle were discovered at Tlingit shell middens at Daxatkanada [5].

References

1.         Batdorf C: Northwest Native Harvest. Surrey, B.C: Hancock House Publishers Ltd.; 1990.

2.         Mitchell D: Prehistory of the Coasts of Southern British Columbia and Northern Washington. In: Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 7: Northwest Coast. edn. Edited by Suttles W. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; 1990: 340-358.

3.         Moss ML: Shellfish, Gender, and Status on the Northwest Coast: Reconciling Archeological, Ethnographic, and Ethnohistorical Records of the Tlingit. American Anthropologist 1993, 95(3):631-652.

4.         Arima E, Dewhirst J: Nootkans of Vancouver Island. In: Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 7: Northwest Coast. edn. Edited by Suttles W. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; 1990: 391-397.

5.         de Laguna F: The Story of a Tlingit Community: A Problem in the Relationship between Archeological, Ethnological, and Historical Methods. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office; 1960.