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CHAPTER V 
HUNTING AND FISHING 
A migratory, outdoor life, wherein man pits his wits against the 
habits and instincts of the game on which he preys, inevitably 
develops a close perception of the phenomena of nature, and calls for 
many ingenious methods of obtaining the daily supply of food. The 
Indians were keen naturalists within the limitations of their interests. 
They knew the life-histories of the animals they hunted, the different 
stages of their growth, their seasonal movements and hibernation 
haunts, and the various foods they souglit for sustenance. Difficulties 
of observation naturally j:)revented them from gaining as complete a 
knowledge of the habits of the fish, but they recognized every stage 
of the salmon from the egg to the adult, and the Nootka of Vancouver 
island artificially stocked their rivers by transporting salmon ova 
from one stream to another. ^ Nor were the Indians less observant 
of the flora of their territories, noting not only the edible plants, and 
those that were useful for tools, weapons, and various household 
a]:)pliances, but many inconspicuous varieties that apparently served 
no useful purpose whatever. Their interest in their environment, 
and eagerne.ss to experiment, led to their discovering the medical 
properties of many plants, and Indian simples gained a deservedly 
high repute among the early colonists.- Several of them, indeed, 
have found a place in our pharmacopoeia, and others fail to appear 
there oidy because modern science has found better sources elsewhere 
for the same remedies. 
Nowhere was the Indian’s keenness of observation more dis- 
played than in fishing and hunting. Few Europeans have equalled 
them in these pursuits, except when superior equipment has given 
them an initial advantage; for the aborigines employed practically 
every method that was known to the white man, and others that were 
unknown. All tribes were not equally proficient in both pursuits; 
some excelled in hunting, others in fishing; and there were poor 
hunters, anri poor fishermen, in every community. The Cree, who 
1 So, at least, states Sproat : Op. cit., p. 220, note. 
2 The tribe.s in the ba.sin of Maekenitie. river, and the E.skimo, lacked the herbal remedies so common 
elsewhere, partly, no doubt, on account of the more restricted flora in their territories. 
