BULL. 30] 



FISKERNAES FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES 



463 



DIPNET OF THS HAIDA. 



(n.black) 



made in so primitive a manner as to indi- 

 cate aboriginal origin. Another ingenious 

 device employed along the n. Pacitic coast 

 for catching fish consisted of a straight 

 pin, sharp at both ends and fastened to a 

 line ])y the middle; this pin was run 

 through a dead minnow, and, being 

 gorged by another fish, a jerk of the 

 string caused the points to pierce the 

 mouth of the fish, which was then easily 

 taken from the water. ATtificial bait, 

 made of stone and bone combined, was 

 used as 

 a lure, 

 and was 

 quiteas 



attractive to fish as is 

 the artificial bait of 

 the civilized fisherman. 

 Still another ingeni- 

 ous way of catching fish 

 was by "pinching," by 

 means of a split stick, 

 which, like the gig, held 

 the fish fast. 



In shallow rivers low 

 walls were built from one 

 side of the stream to the 

 other, having a central 

 opening through which 

 fish Avere forced into a trap. Brushwood 

 mats were also made, which were moved 

 along like seines, so as to drive the fish 

 into shallow or narrow jjlaces, where they 

 were readily taken by the hand or with 

 dipnets. Along the shores ci rapid 

 streams men stationed themselves on 

 rocks or staging and speared fish as they 

 passed up or down stream. During winter, 

 when the northern waters were frozen, 

 holes were cut in the ice, and through 

 these fish were shot, speared, or netted. 

 Probably the most primi- 

 tive of all methods of fish- 

 ing, however, by which 

 many salmon were and 

 doubtless are still cap- 

 tured, was that of knock- 

 ing them on the head 

 with a club. After a great 

 run of fish had subsided, 

 single ones were caught 

 in shallow water by any of the above 

 methods. There are still indications that 

 from an early period a trade existed be- 

 tween the fishing Indians and those of 

 the interior who gained their livelihood 

 by other means. Great supplies of fish 

 were cured by drying in the sun or over 

 fires, and sometimes the product was 

 finely ground and packed in skins or bas- 

 kets for future use. See Food. 



Consult Adair, Hist. Am. Inds., 1775; 

 Boas (1) in 6th Rep. B. A. E., 1888, (2) 

 in Bull. Am. Mas. Nat. Hist., xv, pt. 1, 

 1901 ; Dawson, Queen Charlotte Ids. , 1880; 

 Dixon in Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., xvii. 



Alaskan Eskimo Ne 



SiNKEH. (nelson) 



pt. 3, 1905; Gatschet in Am. Anthrop., V, 

 361, 1892; Goddard in Univ. Cal. Publ., 

 Am. Archfeol. and Ethnol., i, 1603; 

 Jesuit Relations, Thwaites ed., i-lxxiii, 

 1896-1901; Lawson, Hist. Caro- 

 lina, 340, 1714, repr. 1860; Lewis 

 and Clark, Grig. Jour., i-viii, 

 1904-05; ^largry, Dt'couvertes, 

 V, 81, 1883; Morice in Trans. 

 Can. Inst., 1893; Murdoch in 9th 

 Rep. B. A. E., 1892; Nelson in 

 18th Rep. B. A. E._, pt. 1, 1889; 

 Ran, Prehistoric Fisliing, 1884; 

 Smith, Hist. Ya., repr. 1819. 

 Turner in 11th Rep. B. A. E., 

 1894. (j. D. M.) 



Fiskernaes. An Eskimo settle- 

 ment and Danish trading post, 90 

 miles s. of. Godthaab, w. Green- 

 land. — Kane, Arct. Explor.,i,21, 

 1856. 



Five Civilized Tribes. A term 

 used both officially and unoffi- 

 cially in modern times to desig- 

 nate collectively the Cherokee, 

 Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and 

 Seminole tribes in Indian Ter., 

 applied onaccountof theatlvance 

 made V)y these tribes toward civi- 

 lized life and customs. The term 

 appears in the reports of the In- 

 dian Office as early as 1876, when 

 the agent reported (p. 61) that 

 each ti'ibe "had a constitutional 

 government, with legislative, 

 judicial, and executive depart- 

 ments, conducted upon the same 

 plan as our State governments, 

 the entire expenses of which are 

 paid out of their own funds." 

 There was, however, at that date no court 

 with jurisdiction to try cases where an 

 Indian was one party and a citizen of the 

 United States or a corporation was the 

 other, but this lack has since been sup- 

 plied. Some of the tribes, notably the 

 Cherokee, have had their laws and the 

 acts of their councils printed. 



These five tribes differed from most 

 others in the fact that their lands were 

 held not on the same basis as reservations 

 but Ijy patents or deeds in fee simple, 

 with certain restrictions as to aliena- 

 tion and reversion — those conveyed to 

 the Cherokee Nation, Dec. 31, 1838, for- 

 ever ujwn condition that they "shall 

 revert to the United States if the said 

 Cherokee Nation becomes extinct or aban- 

 dons the same"; those to the Choctaw 

 Nation, Mar. 23, 1842, in fee simple to them 

 and their descendants, "to inure to them 

 while they shall exist as a nation, and live 

 on it, liable to no transfer or alienation, 

 except to the United States or with their 

 consent"; those to the Creek trilje, Aug. 

 11, 1852, "so long as they shall exist as a 

 nation and continue to occupy the coun- 



SPEAR; 1-8. 



(Murdoch) 



