Shifting Tides was born out of a combined love of the Oregon Coast, outdoor education, sustainable foods, and coastal foraging. After years of working in marine science, environmental education, seaweed farming, and food systems, I am inspired to continue teaching about the overlapping sectors of our wild environment and wild edibles through coastal foraging. 

As a marine biologist with a family of restaurant owners, culinary artists, food writers, and chefs, I’ve come full circle by teaching about coastal foraging in the place I love most - the rocky shores of Oregon.

- Alanna Kieffer

The Oregon Coast is made up of a mosaic of indigenous cultures and traditions, many of which center around water and regenerative harvest of seafood. Shifting Tides honors the deep stewardship and cultural connections that Indigenous peoples continue to uphold along the Oregon Coast, from oceans to rivers, forests, and estuaries, and we aim to respectfully tell the stories and lessons of the people who shaped our shores.

The 363 miles of public coastline is ancestral homelands of many Indigenous peoples, including the Tillamook, Clatsop-Nehalem, and an abundant and diverse spread of other coastal Tribes and Bands who are now part of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians. 

For countless generations, these communities have lived in reciprocal relationship with the coastal environment, harvesting from the ocean, rivers, estuaries, and forests, and maintaining sophisticated ecological knowledge of these interconnected systems. The tides, salmon runs, shellfish beds, kelp forests, and coastal prairies have long shaped their ways of life, governance, and spirituality. 

Shifting Tides aims to teach about sustainable harvest of seafood from our shores, and had it not been for these tribes along out coast, the knowledge we have around these ecosystems and sustainable harvest would not be what it is today. 

Despite centuries of forced removal, broken treaties, and systemic erasure, Indigenous peoples of the Oregon Coast continue to maintain, revitalize, and pass on their cultural knowledge, languages, and stewardship traditions. From tribal high school seafood culinary programs, to annual Peace Hikes and Pow-Wows, to volunteer community farm days at tribal gardens and Indigenous Foods tasting menus, I encourage you to look into public events held by tribes along the Oregon Coast, and get involved in learning about their traditions so that you too, can become better stewards for our land and the people that have shaped it. 

The rocky shores and towering trees of the Pacific Northwest make this an exciting ecosystem with extremely rich biodiversity. Oregon’s coastal intertidal ecosystems, ranging from exposed, rocky shore areas to protected, river-fed estuaries and bays, are some of the most diverse in the world. Our nutrient-rich waters, strong ocean currents, and large tidal swings feed an abundance of wildlife and create the perfect recipe for various species to settle on our shores. The rugged coastline provides endless opportunities for education and foraging.

Intertidal rocky shores make up only 1% of landmass on earth, but in Oregon they account for 41% of our 363 miles of coastline!

These rocky shores provide habitat for nesting seabirds, support kelp beds, act as marine mammal refuges, and create space for intertidal species to inhabit. They’re also habitat for many of the species we like to eat! They provide a range of opportunities, for me it’s been the base of my life in environmental education, coastal exploration, foraging, and overall outdoor recreation in Oregon. They are the bridge between the land and sea worlds, and provide opportunities for visitors to connect with the ocean and underwater world.