NO. 4 UPPER YUKON NATIVE CUSTOMS — SCHMITTER 7 



to his neighbor. Ducks are also shot during the fall and spring and 

 make a variety in diet. This meat diet is supplemented by the usual 

 white man's vegetables bought at the local stores. Their nearest 

 approach to vegetable food. is the tuber attached to the root of a 

 pennate-leafed weed that grows on the hillside in the shade of spruce 

 trees in the midst of moss, through which the root extends a few 

 inches, the tuber itself growing in the ground beneath the moss. 

 It is six to nine inches long and from one-half to three-fourths 

 of a inch thick, with fiber strands running through it. It has a 

 slightly sweetish but indifferent taste. The natives originally ate 

 it only when they could get no meat, though they say that it is quite 

 palatable when boiled with grease. 



Huckleberries and cranberries grow in abundance on the moun- 

 tain sides and are gathered in large quantities. "Hootchinoo." the 

 native alcoholic drink, is made from huckleberries, by allowing them 

 to ferment. Raspberries, strawberries, salmon-berries, and currants 

 are also found in favorable localities. 



The Indians never eat dog meat or wolf meat ; they would rather 

 starve. Neither do they eat ravens, hawks, or eagles. They seldom 

 -eat wolverene, though they eat lynx and one kind of owl. 



These people have lately learned luxury to the extent that they 

 think they are destitute when they have only animal food to eat, 

 whereas, I am told, they never had anything but animal food ten 

 years ago. A contrast to this particular tribe is found when the 

 Mackenzie River natives visit here. These live almost entirely on 

 a meat diet, and are a robust, healthy people. 



FISHING AND HUNTING 



In July the salmon begin to run up the river, first the king salmon 

 and later the dog salmon. The Indians prefer the latter, for they 

 say the king salmon are too oily. To catch salmon they generally 

 use hand-nets which are let down to the bottom of the river in rather 

 deep places. When the fisherman feels a pull he draws in the net, 

 although sometimes the salmon pulls the Indian into the water. 

 This method, however, is gradually being replaced by fish-wheels. 

 The salmon are brought to the shore where the women, squatting 

 at the water's edge, dress and wash them in the flowing current, 

 split them lengthwise, make transverse cuts about an inch apart 

 through the meat, and put them on pole-racks to dry in the sun 

 until ready for caching. 



White-fish is occasionally caught in the nets, and is even preferred 



