Casco Bay's four thousand years of sustainable, stable productivity

Casco Bay's four thousand years of sustainable, stable productivity. . , Native Americans harvested this rich estuary, camping on Casco Bay islands to hunt, fish, and dig clams., Prehistoric spear and harpoon points, fish bones, and shell heaps found on Casco Bay islands help trace ancient peoples' late winter, spring and supper camps. While evidence off ancestral Wabanaki (Poeple of the Dawn Lands) dates back 2000 years, other artifacts reach back over 4000 years. Though the first peoples likely walked into Maine 12000 years ago , here, rising sea levels washed away any record of those first 9000 years of human presence., Imagine the centuries of Native American cookouts that it took the create the midden (mound) of discarded shells in mid-coast Maine., The softshell clam middens once found on Casco Bay's islands are still being lost to rising sea levels., Indigenous peoples' intimate knowledge of the Bay's ecosystems helped them survive this dynamic coastal system. They hunted, fished, and gathered using sophisticated tools made of wood, stone, bone and clay., Native peoples depended on Casco Bay Estuary, an extremely productive natural habitat. The Estuary's ten foot tides swept salt water upstream into freshwater streams, coves, and marshes to nurture abundant marine life: seabirs, shellfish, lobsters, fish, and sea mammals., By the 1730s, Europeans had begun drastically affecting the Bay and its native residents. Dams blocked fish runs. Disease, war, and politics displaced Wabanaki tribes. The industrial revolution would bring unchecked pollution. This once-stable rich, ecosystem shows signs of strain., Casco. What's in a name? In 1614, explorer Captain John Smith described "the Country of Aucocisco, in the bottome of a large deepe bay, full of many great Iles." Aucocisco (uh-kos-is-co), captures the sound of this Mi'kmaq word in English. It means "head of bay, mud." Is Casco a clipped form of Aucocisco's last syllable?, Or, some Wabanaki scholars suggest the Abanaki word kasqu' (Great Blue Heron) became "Casco." Since migrating peoples usually named places for unique wayfinding landmarks, it would have been unusual to name a bay for such a common bird. How might kasqu' have become Casco?, Casco Bay over time ,

. Glaciers care coast 22000 years ago , . Climate warms, glaciers retreat First Mainers arrive 12000 years ago , . Rising sea levels was away signs of possible human use , . Climate stabilizes about 4000 bp Sustainable rich habitat , . Native Americans leave behind remains of cod, clams , . Europeans disrupt ecosystem 1730s settlements: Dams block fish runs

, [Captions:] , Using weirs, nets and spears, Indians harvested rushruns , [Left: Plummet, a inker weight for a fishing net], Susquehanna-era point may be 3000 years old, 2000 year old pot found in a Casco Bay island shell midden, Some fish begin their lives in freshwater streams but spend much of their lives at sea. Alewives, sturgeon, salmon, and stripers returend upstream to spawn until hydro dams blocked their passage., Archaeologists find many deer bones in Casco Bay's prehistoric shell middens., Early Mainers hunted sea mink and Seals. During the 1800s' booming fur trade; sea mink were hunted to extinction., Many Wabanaki consider the earliet occupants of Casco Bay to be their ancestors. Today's Wabanaki include: Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, and Abenaki. they maintain an active maritime culture , hunting, fishing, and gathering., Once plentiful, cod grew big enough to eat mature lobsters., Lobster anyone? For at least 4000 years, harvesting shellfish has been a part of Casco Bay life. Native peoples hunted the sturgeon which grew to over 14 feet., As climate changed over time, marine life changed too. Clams replaced Quahogs and Oysters.,