They were gourmets, the Coast Salish First Nations. They lived along the shores of the Puget Sound, inhabiting the bays and estuaries in the days before the white man came, enjoying the bounty of the Pacific Northwest. Through time, the women developed ingenious methods of cookery to nourish and delight those who dined at their fires. They learned when the food was ripe for harvesting. They discovered which kinds of wood best suited their fires. They designed and made their own cooking equipment from the materials available to them. It is the aim of this book to give the reader an understanding of Indian cookery- with practical recipes where appropriate- and to explain the close relationship between First Nation’s food and the northwest Coast Salish culture. Carol Batdorf has a long, close and caring association with the Coast Salish people. Apart from studying their culture, learning to carve totem poles and weave baskets, Carol has “become Indian”. She has served on the staff of the Lummi Communicatee Action program on the Lummi Reserve in Washington State and she has been an instructor in First Nations Studies at Western Washington University. Carol lives and writes in Bellingham, Washington.