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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Of this art among the Iroquois De la Potherie said : " The old 

 men and those who can not or do not wish to go to war or the chase, 

 make nets and are fishers. This is a plebeian trade among them. 

 Their nets are made of thread of nettles or of white wood, the bark 

 of which they make into thread by means of lye which renders it 

 strong and pliable. De la Potherie, 3 133. It is to be noted that the 

 white wood of early writers was commonly that now called basswood. 



Fish weirs were also used by the Iroquois, usually formed of long 

 lines of stones in which sticks and branches were placed, terminating 

 in a rude box. These fishing places were assigned to sections of the 

 nations. Wood entered into fishing in other ways. Father Bruyas 

 mentioned some of these. Fishing with the hook was gagatotsienton, 

 " to fish by drawing up the fish, as the Mohawks did with the her- 

 ring." Gaihonhenton was " to fish in the fashion of the Oneidas, who' 

 chase the fish " through hurdles into a pound. Atatokwisaon was 

 " to fish with a basket " in a stream. Ganniero was also *' to fish for 

 little fish with a basket." 



Mr Morgan is the only one who has figured or described the basket 

 used, but any large and deep basket might answer. The writer has 

 taken minnows for bait in the same way. Figure 97 is a general 

 reproduction of Mr Morgan's picture of the " Yont-ka-do-quci, or 

 Basket Fish Net." He said : 



The basket net was made of splint in a conical form, about 3 feet 

 in length, 15 inches in diameter at the mouth, and 6 at the small end. 

 In using it, the fisherman stood in the rapids of the creek or river, 

 where the water rippled over the stony bottom, and with a stick or 

 rod managed to direct the fish into the partly submerged basket, as 

 they attempted to shoot down the rapid. When one was heard to 

 flutter in the basket, it was at once raised from the water, and the 

 fish was found secure within it. M organ, 2 : 42 



This was once easily done; but it is probable that two persons 

 fished together, and that a judicious use of sticks and stones helped 

 guide the fish to the basket. Fish were often driven into the weirs 

 by stretching a grapevine across a river and drawing it along the 

 bottom. The Oneidas made a pound by placing two rows of stakes 

 across a creek. The upper one had an opening through which the 



