...Non-salmon fish were usually eaten fresh or frozen for later use. Some households also harvested these fish to feed dogs and for trapping bait. Fish caught in fall were sometimes split and dried to feed dogs during winter months. When colder temperatures allowed fish to be frozen naturally, they were preserved in that way. Some households reported eating the liver from burbot, which were caught for dog food. Fish used for trapping bait were sometimes allowed to decompose slightly for increased effectiveness.
Residents of Fort Yukon utilized a variety of mammals including moose, caribou, brown bear, black bear, sheep, snowshoe hare, porcupine, and squirrel. The harvest and use of furbearers are discussed in a subsequent section of this chapter. During the survey year a few Fort Yukon households also reported harvest of deer and sheep from other parts of the state. Traditionally, the hunting of large mammals provided the Gwich'in with considerable quantities of food as well as raw materials for clothing, tools, weapons, ornaments, and ritual objects and this activity had great sociocultural and ideological importance (Slobodin 1981:516-517). The significance of small mammals such as snowshoe hare, beaver, muskrat, squirrel, and porcupine was also reflected in the reliance on these resources as a source of food (Slobodin 1981:516). Shimkin (1955:222-223) reported -that in 1948-49 moose provided approximately 80,000 pounds or about 50 percent of the meat and fish consumption by weight. At that time, muskrats contributed between 15 and 20 percent of the total resource harvest. In the past, snares were used to harvest both large and small mammals including moose, caribou, bear, and snowshoe hare (Osgood 1970:36; McKennan 1959:48). The Gwich'in developed complex tracking and stalking techniques for the hunting of moose throughout the year (Osgood 1970-26-27; Nelson 1973:84-114). Caribou fences or surrounds were used for the harvest of this migratory species and den hunting of bears was commonly undertaken in the late fall....