By Gayle Martin Resource Specialist II

Excerpted from Alaska Department of Fish and Game Technical Paper No. 78, June 1983

Resource Use Patterns

Most Dot Lake residents follow the same general annual pattern of resource harvest activities as their predecessors did historically. Normally, fall is devoted to hunting of big game species including moose, caribou, sheep, and black and grizzly bear. Hunting for waterfowl, grouse, ptarmagin, porcupine, hare and squirrels also occurs in the fall but continues throughout the winter. Furbearer trapping is primarily a wintertime activity, which lessens in intensity in spring. Summer is devoted to plant gathering and fishing.

Big Game Hunting

Residents who have historically tracked moose are familiar with their movement patterns throughout the year in the Dot Lake area.. Most cow moose reside throughout the year in the flat lowlands of the Tanana River valley north of the Alaska Highway. Calves are born in May and are afforded protection from bears and wolves by marshy habitats. In contrast to most cows and calves, bull moose cross the Alaska Highway from the marshy lowlands to the drier, higher forested lands south of the highway in the foothills of the Alaska Range and back several times annually, especially in the fall and winter. Some cows may migrate across the highway as well

The Division of Habitat (ADF&G) has documented that the Subdivision area also provides winter range for moose of both sexes, especially when deep snow at higher elevations prevents moose from obtaining browse. Prior to the institution of hunting regulations which restricted the taking of moose to an 11-day period in September, Dot Lake hunters hunted moose during the winter in the Subdivision area and other flatlands near Dot Lake. Moose were also formerly harvested during the summer when the fat layer on the moose is thickest and when warmer weather allowed residents to preserve moose meat by drying.

During the current September moose hunting season, Dot Lake hunters pursue moose in the early morning and evening hours along the Alaska Highway by car or truck or along the Tanana River by riverboat. Some hunters track moose on foot and may camp for several days atop a lookout. Moose are sought in flat lowland areas typified by black spruce, low shrub and bog vegetation types.

After a moose is shot, the hunter(s) may enlist the help of relatives or friends at Dot Lake to cut up the carcass and transport the meat home. Some meat is cut into steaks and frozen and some is canned. Residents have described how all the parts of a moose are used, including the head, entrails, hooves and bones. One moose can generally feed a Dot Lake household all winter. Not only is moose valued as a major nutritional and economic component in residents' diets, but it is also culturally valued by Athabaskan residents as "real Indian food," which they have consumed throughout their lifetimes.

Caribou, sheep, and black bear are other big game species sought by Dot Lake residents during the late summer and fall. Hunters shoot a black bear if they see one while moose hunting or if one is a nuisance. The Sam Creek Subdivision area provides bear habitat, as evidenced by the abundance of tracks often seen there. Bear meat is eaten, but the entrails are avoided due to their strong smell. Bear fat is rendered into oil and mixed with berries or used as cooking oil.

Caribou and sheep are found in the foothills and mountains of the Alaska Range. Residents reported that the increasingly restrictive regulations governing the harvest of caribou and sheep in these areas over the past decade have discouraged reliance on these species as dependable food sources. Consequently, there has been an increased dependence on moose. Harvest of caribou and sheep near Dot Lake requires a permit, and although residents apply for permits, their names are not drawn every year. Dot Lake residents also reported that they are discouraged by the high cost of travelling into remote mountainous areas, competition with non-local hunters and the relatively small amount of meat obtained for the effort. However, a few hunters who were successful in obtaining caribou permits in 1982 and in harvesting caribou made the several trips necessary to pack out meat. Caribou have occasionally migrated into the flats near Dot Lake including into the Sam Creek Subdivision during especially cold winters, and , if allowed by game regulations, hunters harvest them.

Small Game and Bird Hunting

Small game and bird hunting afford Dot Lake residents the opportunity to have a fresh source of wild meat during the fall, winter and spring months. Waterfowl are hunted during the fall, usually by a single hunter or two hunters from the same family. Hunters with riverboats travel to lakes near the Tanana River a distance of as much as 10 miles from home. Residents without boats travel as far as 15 miles by car or truck to lakes along the Alaska Highway. Although waterfowl are not typically found in the forested habitat of the Sam Creek Subdivision, residents traverse the area to hunt birds in the marsh to the north.

In the fall and winter, spruce grouse, ruffed grouse, willow ptarmigan, rock ptarmigan and hare are hunted. Residents reported that these animals can be found in all habitats, including the forests of the Sam Creek Subdivision. The most efficient hunting strategy is to drive along the highway during the late fall when the animals' dark colors contrast with freshly-fallen snow. During winter, some elderly residents snare hares close to their homes. Porcupines, like game birds and hares, are found in a variety of habitats. Hunters usually take porcupines by clubbing or shooting them during big game hunting trips.

Furbearer Trapping

In addition to the anticipated economic gain, Dot Lake trappers value furbearer trapping as an opportunity to be outdoors during the winter, to exercise, and to obtain wild meat. Seasonal and/or temporary employment opportunities are generally available only during the summer months and trapping provides unemployed residents a valued wintertime activity. Trappers set traps and snares to capture a variety of furbearers including lynx, marten, wolf, wolverine, fox, land otter, mink, ermine/weasel, beaver, muskrat, snowshoe hare and squirrel. Because of its proximity to Dot Lake and the Alaska Highway, the Sam Creek Subdivision area is used by 70 percent of Dot Lake trappers en route to their individual traplines which run up smaller drainages. Trappers who own snowmachines travel up to 30 miles daily, setting and checking traps and snares. Some trappers walk their traplines on snowshoes covering up to nine miles in a day. Furs are sold to furbuyers from Tok, Northway, Delta Junction, and Fairbanks who come weekly to Dot Lake during the trapping season. Trapping success varies from year to year, and in good years trappers can count on some cash in excess of their operating costs. Some trapped furbearers, notable lynx, hare, squirrel, beaver and muskrat, provide a source of wild meat as well as fur.

Plant Gathering

Summer, one of the busiest times for all Dot Lake residents, is devoted to plant gathering and fishing. The Sam Creek Subdivision is a popular site among Dot Lake residents for berries, gathering mushrooms, edible roots, rosehips and edible greens. Residents drive up to 60 miles from home to gather plants, especially berries. Berry picking involves groups of from two to ten people, usually sisters and sisters-in-law and their children, or the elderly and their grandchildren. A whole family often goes berry picking together. Berries are valued as a source of fresh, wild fruit, less expensive and of higher quality than the fruit purchased from the grocery store. Berry picking is considered an important family activity and a means for elderly people to teach plant gathering to children who are free from school for the summer. Fishing

Fish are reported to be second to moose in comprising a large amount of wild food in Dot Lake residents' diets. Although no fish are found in the Sam Creek Subdivision, the area is traversed by Dot Lake fishermen on their way from the Alaska Highway to clearwater streams north of the Subdivision. Four whitefish camps are operated during the summer months by residents of Dot Lake. Several related households participate in fish camp activities, including pulling whitefish from a gill net, cutting, hanging and drying the fish, and tending the fire. Other fish species are caught near Dot Lake with rod and reel, including grayling, burbot, northern pike, lake trout and Dolly Varden. Some of these species are caught during winter through the ice on nearby lakes. Because salmon are not available in the upper Tanana river at Dot Lake, most residents travel 160 to 250 miles by road to the Copper River to catch a winter supply of salmon. Salmon and whitefish are customarily traded between some Dot Lake residents and their relatives living in the Copper River basin.