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D. R. CLINE, C. WENTWORTH, AND T. W. BARRY 



turies, the puffin being unquestionably the 

 most valuable. Williamson (1945) reported 

 that in a good year the total puffin catch may 

 be between 400,000 and 500,000. In addition, 

 as many as 120,000 murres are snared or shot 

 annually by the Faeroese, and at least twice 

 that many eggs are taken and Tuck (1960) 

 stated, "The economic necessity of 'fowling' 

 in the Faeroes has by virtue of long centuries 

 of usage become part of the national life, af- 

 fecting folklore and customs, and providing 

 outlets for the sporting instinct inherent in 

 the people." A Faeroese guidebook even sug- 

 gests that its importance to the Faeroese cul- 

 ture has been in no way diminished by the in- 

 fluence of modern civilization. Current 

 Faroese game laws appear to be effective in 

 assuring a sustained yield of marine birds 

 while guaranteeing their long-term survival. 



Seabirds and their eggs constitute a small, 

 but still very important, part of the total diet 

 of the Eskimos and Indians living along the 

 Arctic coast of the Northwest Territories and 

 Alaska. In spite of the many changes occur- 

 ring in the North, there is, even for the wage 

 earner, a strong psychological attachment to 

 the land and sea and the free life it represents. 

 In spring, the release from the long monoto- 

 nous winter is marked by the rites of ratting, 

 fishing, sealing, whaling, or marine bird hunt- 

 ing and egg gathering, according to village 

 tradition. 



For those living off the land in such remote 

 coastal outposts as Sachs Harbor on Banks 

 Island, Holman Island on the Mackenzie 

 Delta, Point Hope and Point Barrow in north- 

 ern Alaska, Inalik on Diomede Island in the 

 Bering Strait, or Hooper Bay on the Yukon- 

 Kuskokwim Delta, the spring marine bird 

 hunt represents a change of diet and activity. 

 It offers opportunity to renew age-old tradi- 

 tions and continues a cultural bond among 

 those confined to jobs in the settlements va- 

 cationing and absenteeism from jobs and 

 schools are always highest during late May 

 and early June. 



Marine birds yield between a few grams and 

 2 kg of meat, depending on the species. 

 Usually the birds are either consumed soon 

 after they are taken or stored in an icehouse 

 for use throughout the summer. Most often 

 the meat is cooked into a soup or stew with 

 rice, noodles, and onions. A few birds may be 



dried or salted so that they can be used for 

 special holiday feasts during the winter. 

 Sometimes feathers are saved for the manu- 

 facture of parkas, ceremonial fans, and 

 masks. In some areas of the Yukon Delta, 

 goose and duck down is still saved and used in 

 quilts that can be found in nearly every home. 

 In the spring 1975 issue of the catalog of a 

 Seattle, Washington, outfitter, down quilts 

 for single beds were listed at $95. Thus, there 

 is a substantial cash savings by home manu- 

 facture of such items. 



The Yukon Delta in western Alaska is the 

 area where the use of marine birds is most ex- 

 tensive and significant. Klein (1966) provided 

 harvest data by village for the entire area and 

 showed that, in general, geese were more im- 

 portant than ducks, representing about two 

 thirds of the take in both the spring and the 

 fall. The average numbers of ducks (mostly 

 pintails, Anas acutus) and geese (primarily 

 white-fronted geese, Anser albifrons); em- 

 peror geese, Philacta canagica; cackling 

 Canada geese, Branta canadensis minima; 

 and black brant, Branta nigricans, taken per 

 household were 77 by the Yukon River 

 villages, 69 by the Kuskokwim River and tun- 

 dra villages, and 94 by the Bering Sea coastal 

 villages. Although eggs gathered by Yukon 

 River villagers averaged less than a dozen per 

 household, Kuskokwim people took about 3 

 dozen and coastal people about 6.5 dozen on 

 the average. Eggs of black brant and cackling 

 Canada geese were especially favored, but 

 even those of small passerines were accept- 

 able. The average size of households for all 

 areas was believed to be between 5.5 and 6.5 

 persons. 



A 1968 survey of waterfowl taken in the 

 Mackenzie Delta region, made by the Cana- 

 dian Wildlife Service, showed an average take 

 per household of about 70 birds, a figure com- 

 parable to that for the Yukon Delta. In the 

 Mackenzie region, however, ducks were more 

 important than geese, representing about 

 60% of the harvest. 



More recent data on Alaska waterfowl har- 

 vest per household is available for other 

 coastal regions. Data provided by two re- 

 gional native corporations for the Joint Fed- 

 eral-State Land Use Planning Commission 

 for Alaska in 1973 showed an average per- 

 household waterfowl harvest of 33 ducks and 



