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Fish Trap
- Description
- The artifact is a metre long cylindrical cage made of spruce roots and/or willow branches. At one end the cage, the cylinder is tied closed and the other end has a funnel shaped entrance leading into the cage. The funnel entrance is designed so that fish can enter the cage but are unable to exit.
- Other Names
- Witsuwit'en fish trap
- Category
- TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT FOR MATERIALS
- Sub-Category
- FISHING AND TRAPPING TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
- Description
- The artifact is a metre long cylindrical cage made of spruce roots and/or willow branches. At one end the cage, the cylinder is tied closed and the other end has a funnel shaped entrance leading into the cage. The funnel entrance is designed so that fish can enter the cage but are unable to exit.
- Publications
- Fish traps are discussed in Niwhts’ide’nï Hibi’it’ën: The Ways of Our Ancestors – Second Edition. Melanie Morin and School District #54. Information for this photo record as well as the June 2018 "From the Back Room" article about this fish trap sourced from this publication.
- History Of Use
- Trap believed to have been used on the Skeena River. Fishing traps like this one have been used by the Wituswit'en and Gitxsaan peoples for thousands of years. Fish traps were made in a variety of designs. This, like many fish traps, was to be used in tandem with a weir, known as a k’ondze in Witsuwit’en. Weirs are fences built across sections of a river that have a gap in them, forcing fish into a particular area in order to pass through the obstruction. When a person wanted to catch fish, they would lower the trap with the funnel end facing the gap. Fish would enter through the funnel shaped entrance and become trapped, unable to swim back the way they came. While it is uncertain how many fish this particular trap could hold, other fish traps in sizes of up to 2 meters long have been known to hold close to a hundred salmon.
- Accession No.
- 2008.13.1
- Type of Record
- Museum Artifact
Less detail