| Remarks |
Halibut was an important staple food and trade item for the Haida, due to its year-round availability, large size and good preservative qualities. It was also an important feast and potlatch food. Many Haida villages were located at exposed, seaward locations which gave ready access to halibut fishing grounds even during the winter. The old Haida saying "when the salmonberries are ripe, the halibut are in the kelp" refers to the abundance of halibut in shallow waters during the spring and summer months. Halibut was caught with a special wooden circle-shape hook adopted by the commercial longline fishery in the early 1980s since it is more efficient than the J-shaped hook. Shallow water fishing lines were made of cedar bark and spruce root while deep water fishing lines were made of kelp (which when properly cured, coiled stored and soaked in seawater prior to use could last for many years). Two hooks were suspended from the same float which may rattle to signal when a fish is caught. Inflated seal stomachs were used for large fish (often exceeding 50 kg). Halibut sites (where they are caught) were called halibut houses or 'gyu'. Halibut bands belonged to families. Once caught, halibut were bled by cutting and breaking the vertebrae at the tail. The head was boiled fresh in 'jum' or fish stew; fish was filleted and fillets were sliced into thin strips that were sun-dried or sometimes partly smoked. Dried halibut were stored in bent-wood cedar boxes; it was eaten after dipping in eulachon or sea mammal oil. The backbone was boiled fresh or preserved by sun-drying or smoking. The skin was usually lightly smoked and dried and eaten after being blistered over the fire. The cheeks were often smoked and said to be a special food of chiefs. Eggs were added to 'jum' or barbecued over a fire. Glue was prepared by chewing the skin around the tail and storing the liquid in a container. See also Ref. 38231. |