The Northern Iroquois found sucker fish in the Saugeen River at the Donaldson site [40]. The Onondaga Iroquois found sucker near the Cabin site and Furnace Brook site [47]. The Tagish and Inland Tlingit obtained sucker fish from Little Atlin Lake and Teslin Lake, respectively [50]. A Muskeg community (part of the Attawapiskat) were reported to have consumed both coastal and inland sucker of unspecified species [56].
Fishing
Fishing occurred at different times of the year, depending on the culture. The Kutenai (Kootenai) [2] fished in summer, whereas the Yukon Indigenous Peoples [36] fished both in summer and winter, and the Koyukon [8], Lillooet and Shuswap [27] fished in spring. The Thompson (N'laka'pamux) caught sucker fish in early spring [11]. The Kootenai [13] and the Huron [19, 20] fished in spring until May. In general, North American Indians began fishing in late April [51]. The Iroquois fished from March until May or June [37]. The Southern Okanagan fished in early May in McLaughlin Canyon, as well as in August [34], the Waswanipi (Cree) fished in May [32], and the Athapaskan of the Arctic drainage lowlands fished in January and February [31]. The Dogrib fished mainly in December and June [41], whereas the Vunta Kutchin (Gwich’in) fished in Autumn [49].
A number of fishing tools were reported to have been used to catch sucker. The Chilcotin used weirs with “basketry traps” set up in shallow waters [5], whereas some families from the Ingalik would set up traps in river offshoots [8]. The Ingalik used weir-trap systems under the ice during winter, and obtained the fish using a long collecting device [9]. The Ahtna used “funnel traps”, fishing lines and hooks, and during the winter, they cut holes into the ice to catch the fish using spears [10]. The Kootenai caught sucker fish using “basket traps” and weirs made from wicker [13], whereas the Kalispel used “barrier trap” weirs made from fir balsam branches, which were set up mostly in marshes [18]. The Kootenai were also reported to have simply used traps to catch fish [14]. The Central Coast Salish used “trawl” nets [21], and the British Columbia Stalo used harpoons at night with torch light to entice the fish [24]. The Dease River Kaska and the Tselona Kaska [29] used traps, spears, nets, “angles”, while the Peel River Kutchin [30] used nets and traps, and the Chipewyan and Slave used weirs and “gill nets” [31]. The Southern Okanagan used “basket traps”, with mainly older men looking over [34]. Normally a spearing platform was built, “leisters” were used, and torches were lit at night to help with spearing. The Fort Nelson Slave (Dene) used weirs to catch sucker fish [42].
Preparation
In terms of food preparation, the Kootenai dehydrated the fish, and smoked them for storage [14], whereas the Iroquois dried and consumed them all summer [37]. Southern Okanagan women dried sucker fish under a covering, with a fire blazing if it was raining, and then traded them with community members for dug up roots [34]. Its flesh was roasted after being cut open and removing the insides, which were sometimes boiled with berries. Sucker roe was either dried or mashed and boiled. The Peel River Kutchin consumed the middle part of the fish, but considered the rest of the body to have too many bones [30]. The Chandalar Kutchin consumed sucker fresh, or, the backbone and head was cut off, with the remaining dried for storage [46]. A soup was made from the fish heads, and fish “pemmican” was also made. The Upper Tanana consumed the fish both fresh and dried, both forms being boiled, with the remaining liquid also consumed [48]. The Western Cree [57] and the Dogrib [41] used sucker fish for dog food, the latter community saved the back end of the fish for human consumption.
The Southern Okanagan followed a “First Fruit ceremony” to celebrate the season’s first sucker catch [34].
Longnose suckers were reported to have been eaten by Mackenzie Delta Inuvialuit during the pre-contact period [58], the Nuvorugmiut (Inuvialuit) of the Kugaluk site (mid 1800s) [53], the Hare (Sahtu) of northwestern Canada [59], the Plains Cree of Alberta and Saskatchewan [55], northern Manitoba Cree [60], the Omushkego Cree of the Hudson and James Bay Lowland in Ontario [61], the James Bay Cree at Fort George and Eastmain River [62, 63], the Mistissini Cree of south-central Quebec [64, 65] and and the Han (mid 1800s) of what is now the Alaska-Canada boundary [66]. The Chipewyan of the Stony Rapids region occasionally ate longnose suckers, but mainly fed the fish to the dogs [67]. Western Arctic coast cultures mainly used long-nosed sucker as dog food [68].
Largescale sucker are reported to have been consumed by the Mid-Columbia Indians of the Columbia River between Celilo Falls and Priest Rapids (eastern Oregon and Washington States) [69]. In the early 1800s, they were caught one of two ways: in traps made of willow baskets set on a stone weir or snagged with a three-pronged hook on a line. They were a highly valued fish that was considered as important as salmon. Available in February and March, they were the first fish after winter months, providing a refreshing change from dried winter foods. A popular myth recounts the tale of how a largescale sucker was rehabilitated from a fall from the sky with the bones of other animals. The purpose of this was so that the fish would be available for people to catch and enjoy. The unusually shaped bones of the sucker provide detail for the story, with some of them referred to as “grizzly’s earrings”, “raven’s socks”, “cricket packing her child”, soft-basket-woman monster”.
White suckers were reported to have been consumed by the Omushkego Cree of the Hudson and James Bay Lowland in Ontario [61], the James Bay Cree at Fort George and Eastmain River [63], the Red Earth Cree of east central Saskatchewan [70], the Waswanipi [32] and the Mistissini Cree of south-central Quebec [64, 65, 71]. For the Mistissini Cree, the major fish caught during the winter was said to be the white sucker [71]. For the Waswanipi, the fish were said to swim into bags during spawning, or were caught with a net, spear or by hand [32].
Shorthead redhorse are reported to have been eaten by the Red Earth Cree of Saskatchewan [70].
The Rappahannock from the Virginia area were reported to have consumed a fish referred to as cow sucker [38], which may have been the Northern hog sucker.
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