(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Indians 101: Native American salmon fishing on the Columbia River (museum exhibit) [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-24 The area between the Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountains in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia, and Western Montana is known as the Plateau Culture area. Winding through this region is the Columbia River. For thousands of years, the Columbia River provided American Indians with an abundance of fish. While it is common to classify the tribes of the Plateau Culture Area as hunting-and-gathering tribes, in actuality fishing provided more food than did hunting for most of the tribes. One-third to one-half of their subsistence came from fish. In his book “Hang Them All” George Wright and the Plateau Indian War, Donald Cutler writes: “Most Plateau tribes ate a fish-based diet, since in those days the rivers were at times nearly choked with salmon.” One of the primary food resources of this area was a group of anadromous fish, the salmon (Onchorhyncus). According to archaeologists Philip Duke and Michael Clayton Wilson, in their chapter in Plains Indians, A.D. 500-1500: The Archaeological Past of Historic Groups: “Salmon could at times provide a food surplus, as could bison herds on the plains to the east.” Along the Columbia River there was a spring Chinook (Onchorhyncus tschawytscha) run from March to May, a summer Chinook run in June, and a fall Chinook run in August and September. There was a Coho salmon (Onchorhyncus kisutch) in the fall and a Sockeye salmon (Onchorhyncus nerkai) in June. It has been estimated that among the Plateau tribes, an individual would consume 400 to 800 pounds of salmon each year. It is estimated that the aboriginal salmon harvest along the Columbia River was about 18 million pounds. Among the Indians along the Columbia River, it is estimated that salmon provided at least 40 percent of their total calories. In his book Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River, William Dietrich reports: “It was roasted, boiled, smoked, or dried into a flaky power that could remain edible for several years. Big games, such as deer and elk, probably made up no more than 10 percent of the diet.” The salmon were speared, netted, gorge-hooked, or trapped. Writing in 1859 in Indian War in the Pacific Northwest: The Journal of Lieutenant Lawrence Kip, Lieutenant Lawrence Kip describes Indian fishing on the Columbia River: “Little bridges are thrown out over the rocks, on which the Indians post themselves, with nets on hoops, to which long handles are attached. With these they scoop up the fish and throw them on the shore. They are then pounded fine between two stones, cured, and tightly packed in bales of grass matting lined with dried fish-skin, in which state they will be kept for years.” On the smaller streams, people constructed weirs of willows and boulders to trap the fish. The Colville felt that the salmon had an aversion to any water which had been tainted by humans or animals, and therefore they would clean the banks of all debris. The fish were cleaned well away from the river so that no blood or other debris would reach the water. In one instance, the ceremonial spearman, on his way to the falls, passed the skull of a dead dog. He immediately returned to his lodge, for to have speared fish with unclean eyes would have driven the salmon away. Before fishing he had to purify himself. Among the Sanpoil and Nespelem, each village owned a fishing site and fishing was regulated by a Salmon Chief. The Salmon Chief was a person whose guardian spirit had given him/her the talent for this occupation. While the Salmon Chief was generally male, there were some women who also had salmon medicine. Along the Middle Columbia River area, tribes such as the Wenatchee, Entiat, and Chelan would dig artificial channels which were lined with white rocks to aid visibility. The salmon were then speared from scaffolds built at either end of the trenches. While men traditionally fished for salmon, the women usually prepared the fish. Once a woman had prepared the fish, it belonged to her, and she made the decisions on how it was to be used. When salmon was used in trade, the trade items belonged to the women. Some of the Plateau tribes, such as the Yakama, used the smashed root of the fern-leaved lomatium (Lomatium dissectum) to poison fish in small, quiet streams with still pools. With this technique, the Indians could select the preferred fish and spare the rest. Those fish which were not taken recover from the poison. Museum Exhibit Shown below is the Native American Salmon Fishing exhibit in the Cashmere Museum in Cashmere, Washington. Map showing the prehistoric salmon runs. Shown above are salmon gaff hooks. These are historically accurate reproductions. Shown above is a salmon gaff. Shown above is a gill net. Notice the stone net weights. According to the display: “The gill net was one of many fish catching devices developed by Columbia River Indians during the thousands of years that they were dependents upon the great annual salmon and steelhead migrations for a critical part of their diet.” Shown above are stone net weights. Shown above are sticks used for building weirs to trap the salmon. Shown above is a mortar and pestle which would have been used in making salmon pemmican. The salmon was dried in the sun and wind. The dried salmon would be pounded with a stone pestle in an oak mortar until it was finely pulverized. The salmon powder would then be tightly pressed into baskets lined with salmon skin. This dried, powdered salmon would keep for a long time. Shown above is a dip net. Shown above is a fish spear which is hundreds of years old. Historic Photographs Salmon Shown above is Chinook (King) salmon. According to the display: “Chinook salmon are revered by Columbia River tribes as they are the first salmon to return in the spring and the tribes have ‘First Salmon’ celebrations.” More about the Plateau Indians Indians 101: Trade, Tradition, Change in the Columbia Plateau (museum tour) Indians 101: Methow Indian Exhibit (photo diary) Indians 101: Some historic photographs of the Colville Reservation (photo diary) Indians 101: Dugout canoes of the Upper Columbia River (museum tour) Indians 301: Camas, a traditional Plateau Indian food Indians 101: The Plateau Indian Tool Kit (Photo Diary) Indians 101: Family and Reservation Community in the Columbia Plateau (Photo Diary) Indians 101: Plateau Horse Regalia (Photo Diary) [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/24/2201118/-Indians-101-Native-American-salmon-fishing-on-the-Columbia-River-museum-exhibit?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/