rHE UANANICHE 



the yearly increasing number of fishermen who 

 seek its capture. A species somewhat similar is 

 found in certain lakes in Maine, where it is desig- 

 nated by the varietal name Sebago. These fish 

 have been artificially propagated at the State hatch- 

 eries of Maine and New York, and to a considerable 

 extent by the United States Fish Commission. 

 The fry have been successfully planted in a number 

 of lakes in the States mentioned, as results now 

 begin to show. Further reference to these last 

 named fish will be made later. 



The name ouananiche — this is accepted as the 

 proper spelling, the pronunciation being " winnan- 

 ish " — was given by the Montagnais Indians, who 

 have inhabited the Lake St. John country for an 

 unknown number of generations. The literal 

 translation of the word is "ouanan," salmon, and 

 "iche" (the diminutive), " the little salmon." 



Some well known writers on the ouananiche 

 have claimed that " ouanan " was not the proper 

 word for salmon in the Montagnais language. The 

 Montagnais are a branch of the Crees, and no less 

 than seven or eight different dialects of their lan- 

 guage have been or are now extant, the word being 

 found in more than one. The name as spelled 

 above can be traced back in Indian history fully 

 two hundred and fifty years. Many words must 



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