BCFNS 12

Chapter 2 – Living on the landHarvesting

Some vocabulary

• stewardship – the idea that the people must look after the land and its resources, so that it will support the people forever; use only what you need

• material culture – objects made and used by a group of people; how the objects are made, used, and how that connects to the beliefs and lives of the people

• harvesting – getting the natural resource out of nature so they can be processed into a form that can be used

How material goods are used

• daily use – like food, clothing shelter• ceremonial use – like weddings,

funerals, celebrations• spiritual use – to thank the creator,

or to give back to nature, or to purify an object, or to pray with

Using Technology• When we think

‘technology’ we think computers, cell phones and so forth

• It is important to understand that technology is anything that is used to get the things we need for survival and enjoyment from life

Harvesting Resources

• First Nations people developed a wide variety of technologies for harvesting resources, and processing them

• First Nations developed a high degree of skill to survive on the land

Gathering Plants

• Plants were an important raw material for food, shelter, medicines, art

• Hundreds of different plants were used

• A camas digging tool held by Songhees First Nations manager (Victoria)

Plants

• Some plants were tended – for example the wild potatoes of the Southern Interior were replanted each year

• Sometimes crops were maintained by controlled burning- saskatoon berries, camas bulb fields

Tree Falling

• A chopping adze – a kind of axe to cut down the tree

• Or controlled burning at the base, in order to make the tree fall

Not authentic as far as I can tell, but you get the idea of what an adze is… we’ll keep looking for a better image

Harvesting from living trees

• Spruce and cedar roots for sewing

• Planks from cedar trees for shelters and bentwood boxes

• Bark pulled from birch, cedar and pine

Cambium stripped from pine trees to eat during the spring and early summer time

http://www.cathedralgrove.eu/text/01-Cathedral-Grove-1.htm http://crossroadscrm.com/photogallery/contemporarycambium.jpg

Birch bark was used for canoes and basketsCedar bark was

used to weave mats, make rope

Fishing Techniques

• Skeena River – 1915• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:First_Nations_girl_fishing_on_the_Skeena_River,_1915.jpg

Fishing technology

• Aboriginal salmon traps, 1837 on Vancouver Island

Fishing Weir• Fraser Lake, 1909• http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/timemach/galler05/frames/fnations.htm

Fishing Techniques

• Dip Net

Stone Traps

http://www.ecotrust.ca/category/subtopics/mapping

• “The stones are probably remnants of ancient fish traps, which once measured at least four feet in height, that were constructed by First Nations thousands of years ago. The stones were arranged into walls in areas where salmon were known to mingle or migrate. At low tide, the fish would be trapped and then selectively harvested by local people.”

From your text, describe each type of fish trap, where it was used, for

what fish• Read p. 36

– Fishing Techniques• Beach Seine• Reef Net• Stone Traps• Weir• Basket Traps• Platforms/stages• Gill nets• Torch Light• Rakes, dip nets, funnel shaped• Hooks• Spears• Ice fishing• Double headed harpoon

• Look in text at pictures of fishing tools – pages 36-38

Drag net – 1880, Namgis

Hunting Skills Needed

• Tracking skills• Knowledge of the huge territories as

they tracked the game• Understand animal behaviour• Mimic sounds of animals

Hunting Technologies

• From the text (p. 38), add detail to each• Bow and arrow• Working in groups or alone• Fences or corrals• Deadfalls• Pits dug along the animal’s paths