FISH 



Coregonus clupeiformis {Mitch.) Mil. Whitefish. 



U-tik-u-me-kwa, C. Thlu-i, D. R. Thlu-a, S. Tluk-tuk-i-, L. 



As the game animals disappear the settlements become more 

 and more dependent on the food fishes of which the various 

 species of coregoni are by far the most important. Fortunately 

 the whitefish is abundant, occurring in nearly every stream and 

 lake in the region visited. It is a gregarious fish which may 

 travel long distances in search of food at the different seasons, 

 or in order to reach shallow waters in which to spawn. As a 

 result of these migrations, whole tribes of Indians are sometimes 

 reduced to starvation. The Company's trading stations, though 

 located near the best fisheries, frequently suffer from the partial 

 failure of the fall fishery. The scarcity of fish at Resolution 

 in the fall of 1893 was ascribed to the high easterly winds 

 which prevailed during the season. 



This fish appears to supply all the necessary elements for 

 the nourishment of the body, as it is not only the sole article 

 of diet, but is even preferred by many of the voyageurs while 

 engaged in severe labor. I have eaten no other food but white- 

 fish for weeks at a time, and certainly preferred them to dried 

 caribou meat, though they were nearly always prepared by 

 boiling. On this subject, Richardson 1 says, "Though it is a 

 rich, fat fish, instead of producing satiety it becomes daily 

 more agreeable to the palate; and I know from experience, 

 that though deprived of bread and vegetables, one may live 

 wholly upon this fish for months, or even years, without tiring." 

 "The mode of cooking the attihawmeg is generally by boiling. 

 After the fish is cleaned, and the scales scraped off, it is cut 

 into several pieces, which are put into a thin copper kettle, 

 with water enough to cover them, and placed over a slow fire; 



1 Fauna, p. 195. 



271 



