Fishing
Aboriginal people throughout North America practice fishing. It
plays a dominant role in the Gitxsan culture. In ancient
times as now, numerous fishing techniques used; in fact almost every
major technique currently used by commercial fishermen was known
before European contact.
Fishing Implements
Gill nets and seines were rare, but a variety of dip nets, scoop
nets and rakes were widely used. They were highly efficient; but
it has been estimated that more tons of fish were caught every year
in traps and weirs than by any other technique. A weir (a fence
or barrier that will block the passage of fish yet allow the flow
of water) was usually made out of a latticework of timber and brush.
The use of hooks was widespread especially for the larger species
of fish, such as salmon and some kinds of trout. Fish spears were
also used. In some areas they fished from canoes at night, using
a torch to attract the fish. Gitanmax, the village in which ‘Ksan
is situated, means “the people who fish by torch light”.
In the economy of the Gitxsan, the most important fish was
undoubtedly the salmon.
Five species were caught in their annual runs upstream - Sockeye,
Chinook or Spring, Pink or Humpback, Coho or Silver, and Chum or
Dog. The fish were dried, primarily as a method of preserving them.
But drying them also makes them a better source of protein. (A fresh
fish usually contains 15 to 20 percent proteins whereas a dried
fish usually contains 50 to 90 percent.) The fish could be smoke-
dried so that it would keep a considerable length of time in the
humid climate.
It is this wealth of food that allowed a high aboriginal population
to nurture itself in rugged terrain, resulting in the elaboration
of the Northwest Coast culture to a point where it ranks among the
highest native civilizations in the world.
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