SEASONAL ROUND

. . . The seasonal round of harvest activities of borough residents during the 1982 to 1984 study period shows recurring events which are never duplicated exactly from one year to the next. Species availability, weather, and regulatory considerations effect the exact timing or occurrence of harvests each season. Therefore, this "typical" portrayal incorporates the events of several years.

River breakup in March or April generally marked the end of winter activities during the study period. As the river opened up, belukha arrived and were occasionally hunted. Seals also were occasionally hunted in the bay. Razor clams were a popular resource harvested on the Pacific Coast side of the peninsula. Personal or chartered aircraft provided access to the claming beaches. Butter clams were taken on the Naknek beaches.

Typically, the Naknek River becomes ice free sometime between March and May depending on the year's weather conditions. When the creeks and river open, fishing for Dolly Varden and rainbow trout commences. Rainbows were taken in the Naknek River from Rapids Camp to Lake Camp. Dollys were fished from creeks, such as King Salmon Creek, which drain into the river. During May or June, the king salmon began returning to the river. To harvest kings, some residents used set gill nets; while others preferred rod and reel fishing.

Sockeye and chum salmon began to arrive in the Naknek River in mid June. These species were mainly taken with gill nets. The arrival of the sockeye also marked the intense commercial fishing period on which many residents concentrated their efforts. Many of those not participating in the commercial fishery continued to fish for king and sockeye salmon along with freshwater fish, mainly grayling, lake trout, and rainbow trout.

During mid July, sockeye salmon fishing slowed, and the first of the year's berries began to ripen. Slmonberries, found in the swampy areas of the tundra, were gathered and used fresh or were frozen for later use. These berries were favored for making aqutaq ("Eskimo ice cream"). Silver (coho) salmon arrived in August. This species was fished like kings, either with nets or rod and reel. Blueberries began to ripen and were picked by many local residents. Caribou season opened mid August, and hunters took advantage of open water by using skiffs to reach hunting locations. A 10-day moose season was open in the local area during the first part of September. Many local residents hunted during the fall season, though harvest numbers were relatively low. Blackberries and cranberries were gathered. Waterfowl hunting began, as the season opened during the same period. As the salmon moved out of the river to the spawning grounds, rainbow trout fishing resumed as a productive activity.

Fall activities in October and November revolved around continued caribou and waterfowl hunting. Geese were harvested, with hunters frequently traveling down the peninsula to reach the higher concentrations of birds. Occasionally, sandhill cranes and spruce grouse were available. Ptarmigan also were taken. At the mouth of the Naknek River, smelt were dip netted for a short period in September or October. Clams were dug along the bay beaches. As the weather turned colder and ice began forming in the waterways, waterfowl hunting declined, and trapping effort increased. Several trapping seasons opened during the month of November and ran throughout the winter, ending in February or March.

During winter months, caribou and ptarmigan hunting continued. Hares and an occasional porcupine were taken opportunistically throughout the fall and winter months. Moose hunting occurred during December, at which time cows could be taken in the local drainages. A favorite winter activity for many residents was fishing for smelt through the ice. When ice conditions were favorable, Naknek River and Paul's Creek provided easy access for this activity. . . .

Processing Sites

To clean salmon, one of four processing sites was normally selected: the net site, the boat docks, a processing area outside a house, or an area inside a house. Households which smoked large quantities of salmon invariably had an outdoors processing site located near a smokehouse. In some instances, the processing site was shared by members from a number of kin-related households. A large flat working platform, running water, large containers of water for holding the cleaned fish, plus a collection of knives and sharpeners were the standard equipment found at these processing sites. A few ulus (traditional women's knives) were still used. Some households had processing sites with permanent facilities; while others had sites of a more temporary nature, often reconstructed each fishing season. Unused parts of the fish were hauled to the dump or thrown back in the river.

A few fishermen cleaned fish at the nets. Factors contributing to this practice appeared to be based on the amount of time available when the net was picked, number of fish in the set, if a good processing site was available at the residency, and if the same person or persons who picked the net were the ones who did the processing. Cleaning equipment, such as boards and knives were sometimes hauled to the net site. The need for running water was negated by using the river for cleaning the fish and equipment. Unused portions of the fish were returned to the river.

Some residents, usually groups of King Salmon men who had used skiffs when working their nets, set up cleaning areas at the local dock area. They either erected a makeshift table or cleaned directly on the dock, throwing away the unwanted portions of fish immediately into the river. The last location noted, inside a house, was mentioned when a very small number of salmon were to be processed, and the weather conditions were undesirable for working outside.

Parts of Salmon Used for Human Consumption

A variety of parts of the salmon were used for human consumption by Naknek River residents during the study period. Some parts, such as fillets, are used from every fish. Other parts, such as milt, were used on an occasional basis. King and sockeye salmon were the two species most frequently mentioned when referring to various parts which were used. The size of fish was apparently an important consideration, the larger the fish, the more likely it was that a wide variety of its parts would be processed. . . .

All respondents reported using the belly or the fillet section of the fish. They were frozen, salted, canned, smoked, dried, or eaten fresh. Heads particularly those for kings or large sockeyes, were used by many households. Fish head chowder was the most common method of preparation. Among those persons who used fish heads, it was ranked as a favorite part of the fish, particularly of the king salmon.

Eggs were frequently used, either as bait or eaten. If eaten, eggs were boiled or prepared as caviar. Fried milt was also used as food. Like the eggs, it was eaten by numerous households, but large quantities were not consumed. Milt can be frozen, but most reported using it fresh. The backbone was used two ways, either when a whole fish was canned or as "gumchuk." Gumchuk is the local term for a backbone that is hung until the outside layer of meat is dry, while the inside portion remains moist. It is then stored in a freezer. The dried backbone piece is boiled for eating. The backbone itself is not eaten, but sucked to extract the marrow and juices. The second method of preserving the backbone was canning. This method of processing disintegrates the backbone which is then eaten along with the meat.

Other salmon parts were used on a less frequent basis by local Naknek River residents. Some households fixed salmon tails. These were either dried and smoked, or more frequently, salted, soaked out, and boiled. Tips were mainly salted and then boiled. The stomachs were cleaned and boiled by a few households. Livers and hearts were fried.

Preservation Methods

There were several basic preservation techniques used throughout the Bristol Bay Borough communities. Smoking and freezing fish were the most common techniques. . . . Salting and canning were also popular. Drying without smoking was the least widely used of the basic preservation techniques.

Smoked salmon was the most preferred type of preserved fish, but not the technique most widely used. Capital investment, time involved, basic knowledge, and risk of spoilage were reasons given for the dichotomy between preference and practice. Smokehouses in the local area consisted of wooden structures built to handle anywhere from 20 to 300 fish at one time. When someone was asked the size of their smokehouse, most gave the number of fish that could be smoked at one time and not the building's dimensions. A smoldering fire is set inside the building and partially covered with a piece of tin or barrel to produce the desired level of smoke.

Two other types of fish smoking devices are used locally. One is the commercially produced item, commonly referred to by its brand name, "Little Chief." These smokers run on electricity and require commercially produced wooden chips. Their maximum capacity is one or two sockeye-sized fish. Another type of smoker gaining in popularity during the 1980s was the homemade version built from wooden packing crates. This box usually measured approximately 3' x 3' x 4' and took electricity to heat commercial wood chips placed in a hot plate located on the inside floor of the unit. Old refrigerators were also converted into smoking units, much like the wooden packing crate.

Each salmon species processed in the smokehouses was prepared in specific ways. Kings were made into strips, tied with cords or string, brined, and hung. Strips are used as the fish is too large to be smoked in large sections without flesh spoiling before it is adequately cured. Smaller salmon, sockeyes, or cohos, were split, left connected by the tail, brined, and hung as a single piece. All species were hung outside on a drying bar for a period of time to develop a glaze before being transferred to the smokehouse. It was at this point in processing that people were most concerned about the presence of blow flies. Alder, birch, driftwood, or combinations of the three were burned to create the smoke. . . .

A major reason for targeting kings in the spring was less rain and the lack of blow flies which help assure families of better quality smoked fish. It takes a great deal of care to keep a good fire going in the smokehouse and completing the smoked fish. Meeting these labor requirements before and after the demands of the commercial fishing seasons was a major concern of those involved with both fisheries. If conditions did not permit the harvesting and processing of kings, some families using smokehouses elected to wait until coho were available or to freeze sockeye until later in the fall when weather and blow flies were more predictable. Frequently, smoked fish were bagged and stored in freezers. . . .

Salting was an important preservation technique among many local residents. Salt fish was soaked out and eaten raw or pickled. Also, once soaked out, salt fish could be used like fresh salmon. All species of salmon were used for salting, though pinks were generally considered too soft to be worth the effort. Sockeyes, cohos, and heads of kings were salted in the greatest quantities. Most salting was done by splitting the fish, and placing them in a container skin side down on a layer of dry salt. Another layer of salt was added and then another fillet with the flesh side down. This sandwiching continued until the container was full. A weight, such as a rock on a plate, was added and the container covered. If the fish had been salted properly, it formed its own brine. While the majority of people used dry salt, some individuals made a brine and poured it over the fish. Still others initially used dry salt; after a brine had formed, drained it off, and filled the bucket with a fresh brine. . . .

Canning, either with cans or jars, was extremely popular. Approximately 70 percent of those interviewed in 1982 reported canning salmon. Females were responsible for most of the canning chores. Mostly, whole fish was canned, though some persons reported processing only skinned fillets.

Freezing is a relatively new preservation technique. Before individual freezers were commonplace and when the local population was smaller, canneries allowed local residents to use their freezers. This practice has died out. By the early 1980s, almost every household either owned a personal freezer, or had access to one. One hundred percent of the surveyed sample listed freezing as a preservation technique. It was a convenient way to take care of salmon and allowed for preparing the fish in a variety of ways at a later date. Freezing was also used to reduce the workload of having to process fish during the peak of the fishing season. People referred to "throwing" their fish in the freezer when it was first harvested; later when more time was available or weather conditions improved, continued to process the fish. Freezing was also used to preserve smoked and dried fish for long-term storage. Previously, such fish were stored in caches, but a freezer lessens concerns of spoilage or bears breaking in the cache. Drying without smoking was a technique used by some local native residents for preserving whole fish or backbone. Spawned out salmon, locally called tamuanaq, were split and dried. Gumlanek was made from older salmon that had been aged and hung outside to dry. If roe was present, it was left in the fish. This fish was either left outside, or put in the freezer and eaten frozen.

Fermenting in pits is a preservation technique that dated to prehistoric times. In 1982, only one family contacted continued to use this technique. While the second and third generations in the family enjoyed eating the "stinky" fish, they did not know how to prepare it. . . .

Production Groups

Harvesting, processing, and preparing salmon are individual components of the subsistence fishing complex. Few persons operated individually when harvesting and processing subsistence salmon. The production groups were normally organized along the lines of kinship or on the basis of friendship.

Subsistence salmon production networks observed in South Naknek exemplify the units organized through kinship. Consanguinal and affilinal ties connected many of the households. Additionally, residents of the community were so commonly involved in commercial and subsistence fishing activities that everyone, except the youngest children, had learned to set and pick a fishing net. The familiarity of the system, combined with close kinship ties, encouraged sharing of tasks involved with harvesting and processing salmon. Setting a net was usually an individual effort, sometimes a husband setting out for his wife, or son for a mother and grandmother. Children of the family unit, whether residing in the same house or not, were often sent to check the nets. Which members of the family picked the net varied from group to group and also from one set to the next. For example, on one tide, a man returned with fish he picked from three nets (and three separate households) his own and two of his sisters. He had finished picking his net and simply moved down and took care of his sister's nets. Sometimes, young children accompanied an adult relative to pick the net; other times, an older child did the work alone. If the nets were loaded, anyone present on the beach might give a hand. . . .

Cleaning, splitting, and preparing the fish was a group activity. Sister and sister-in-law, husband and wife, mother, daughter, and grandchildren, father and sons were some of the combinations of the kinship-based groups found working together during the 1982 season in South Naked. Equipment, cleaning areas, and storage units were often shared among the members of the production groups. Smokehouses were frequently the focal point of the work itself, and the preserved salmon, as sometimes stored in smokehouses for the entire group to use throughout the year. . . .

A second type of organization of subsistence salmon production groups was not kin based. The household was self-contained throughout the subsistence salmon harvest, processing, and distribution. This was a pattern typical of households with no extended kinship ties in the immediate area. Among the isolated nuclear households, work units were sometimes formed on the basis of relationships created through professional, church or friendship ties. Such groups at times cooperatively harvested salmon, processed salmon, and shared equipment. Often, however, harvests were divided among the participants once the fish were picked, and the groups split to process the fish separately. Other work groups remained intact through the cleaning process and then split the harvest. Occasionally, the communal effort continued through the canning or smoking process. From personal observation it appeared that many of these non-kinship based were unstable in nature, being formed anew each year as newcomers to the area were incorporated into one of the work groups.

Distribution Networks

. . . Subsistence salmon was often distributed along networks of people. The patterns of distribution varied among the user groups with salmon being distributed at different times throughout the year and in various stages of processing and preservation.

Perhaps the most liberal example of distributing salmon, no just sharing equipment, occurred when one household had a net of fish ready to be picked and a backlog of fish to be worked. Occasionally, when this occurred, the unpicked net was offered to a second household. The second household picked the net and processed the salmon for its own use.

Offering a net ready to be picked was not a common occurrence; more frequently, the first instance of salmon distribution took place among the group of people who had set and picked the net together. When only gear was shared, the salmon tended to be distributed at the time the fish were picked from the net. For groups dividing up the fish at this early stage of processing, it generally held true that equipment, such as canners or smoking units, were owned by individual households.

The greater the communal aspects of processing and preserving activities, the longer delayed the distribtution of the salmon. When a smokehouse was shared, for instance, though some fish might be taken for immediate consumption, most was not distributed among members of the processing group for two or more weeks. If a group of households shared a single pressure cooker, the fish was distributed when the entire canning process was completed.

Households who shared storage facilities, whether salt buckets, freezers, or caches, tended to give and receive fish continuously throughout the year, or until the supply of fish was depleted. Frequently, there was no formalized method of distribution, rather there was an acceptance of the concept that there was an available resource which was to be shared among all members o the group. The households sharing storage facilities were often kinship related and, therefore, salmon distribution followed a network organized along kin-based lines.

Sharing salmon with kin was a common practice of all borough residents. The manner in which the fish was distributed seemed to be based on proximity of the household's kinship group. Among extended kinship groups residing locally, fish was shared along kinship-based networks working together during the salmon processing. Sometimes, salmon was shared with relatives who had not participated in any phase of the salmon processing.

When kinship groups did not live locally, the times and types of processed salmon which were distributed varied from that which were shared between local kin. Distribution outside the borough was necessarily not an informal, spontaneous event as might be observed among locally domiciled families. Salmon had to be packed and shipped out to be shared with non-local kin. A great deal of salmon distribution occurred in conjunction with the Christmas holiday and when visits were made to or from relatives.

Visitors were frequently given frozen, canned, or salted fish to take on their return home. As the most popular visiting season to the Bristol Bay area is summer; it coincides with the salmon runs, and hence, the possibility of sharing the resource. Children, grandchildren, and other relatives returning to the area for the fishing seasons were often given fish, particularly smoked salmon for the winter season.

Salmon was also distributed outside any work or kin-based group. Frequently, when salmon first arrived In the Naknek River, pieces of a single fish or a whole fish were given to the older people. Newcomers to the borough, those who did not possess the skill to harvest their own salmon, or who had arrived when fresh salmon was not available, were usually given fish by a local resident. Sharing salmon with the newcomer was seen both as a welcoming gesture and a way to help the new household establish a food supply. . . .