Walleye are reported to have been eaten by The Montagnais (Innu) of the Upper Saint Lawrence River [1], First Nations of Ontario [2], the Cree of Northern Manitoba [3], the James Bay Cree of Fort George [4], the Huron [5], the Anishnabeg (Anishinabek) (Ojibway) [6], James Bay Cree [7-10], the Red Earth Cree [11], the Attawapiskat Cree [12], and the Mistissini Cree [12, 13]. The Northern Iroquois, Dene/Metis of Fort Resolution, Indigenous Peoples of Great Slave Lake, Fort Nelson Slave, Attikamek, Attawapiskat, Muskeg, and Cree of Northern Quebec also ate walleye [13-20], as did the Waswanipi (Cree) and Mistissini (Cree) [21, 22]. The Chippewa, Cree (including Waswanipi Cree and Western Woods Cree), Chipewyan and Métis of Wood Buffalo National Park are also reported to have eaten walleye [23-28]. Upper Liard Kaska are reported to have eaten walleye caught in lakes [29]. Because sauger are similar in appearance but less common than walleye, they are likely to be frequently referred to as walleye in the ethnographic literature. Sauger were specifically noted to be available to the Red Earth Cree of Saskatchewan [11], but were likely caught and eaten by many of the central North American cultures noted to eat walleye.

Northern Quebec Cree caught walleye in summer from inland lakes and rivers.
The Fort Nelson Slave caught walleye using fish weirs, which they set in shallow creeks or rivers. These weirs were usually built during the months of July, August and September [14, 18]. The Waswanipi (Cree) caught walleye in early summer during the five to ten day long spawning phase and throughout winter [21]. The Cree, Chipewyan and Métis of Wood Buffalo National Park caught walleye in spring [30].

The Mistissini Cree dressed walleye flesh two different ways: 1) they removed the anterior dorsal fin, scaled the carcass, gutted it, severed the tail, removed any extra scales and then washed the carcass, 2) after removing the anterior dorsal fin, the carcass was skinned, the head and tail severed, and the carcass gutted, descaled, and washed. In addition to the flesh, the Cree were reported to have consumed the head [13]
The Attawapiskat ate walleye infrequently as they found them too boney [16]. The Chippewa, Cree, Chipewyan and Métis of Wood Buffalo National Park dried walleye for later use [23, 30]. The Chippewa cleaned them, cut along each side of the backbone and hung them on the rack over a slow fire, the body on one side and the backbone and tail on the other. When the fish had partially dried, the flesh was cut lengthwise and the inside was exposed to the fire to dry further. Prior to eating, the dried fish was boiled [23].

References

1.         Rogers ES, Leacock E: Montagnais-Naskapi. In: Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 6: Subarctic. edn. Edited by Helm J. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; 1981: 169-189.

2.         Rogers ES: Aboriginal Ontario: historical perspectives on the First Nations. Toronto: Dundurn Press; 1994.

3.         Campbell ML, Diamant RMF, Macpherson BD, Halladay JL: The Contemporary Food Supply of Three Northern Manitoba Cree Communities. Canadian Journal of Public Health 1997, 88(2):105-108.

4.         Elberg N, Hyman J, Hyman K, Salisbury RF: Not By Bread Alone: The Use of Subsistence Resources among James Bay Cree. In.; 1975.

5.         Heidenreich CE: Huron. In: Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 15: Northeast. edn. Edited by Trigger BG. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; 1978: 368-383.

6.         Clifton JA, Cornell GL, McClurken JM: People of The Three Fires: The Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Ojibway of Michigan. Grand Rapids, Michigan: The Grand Rapids Inter-Tribal Council; 1986.

7.         Belinsky D, Kuhnlein HV, Yeboah F, Penn AF, Chan HM: Composition of fish consumed by the James Bay Cree. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 1996, 9:148-162.

8.         Berkes F: An Investigation of Cree Indian Domestic Fisheries in Northern Quebec. Arctic 1979, 32(1):46-70.

9.         Berkes F, Farkas CS: Eastern James Bay Cree Indians: Changing Patterns of Wild Food Use and Nutrition. In.; 1978.

10.       Girard M, Noel F, Dumont C: Varying mercury exposure with varying food source in a James Bay Cree community. Arctic Medical Research 1996, 55:69-74.

11.       Meyer D: Appendix I: Plants, Animals and Climate; Appendix IV: Subsistence-Settlement Patterns. In: The Red Earth Crees, 1860-1960. Volume 1st edition, edn.: National Musem of Man Mercury Series; 1985: 175-185-200-223.

12.       Rogers ES: Subsistence Areas of the Cree-Ojibwa of the Eastern Subarctic: A Preliminary Study. Contributions of Ethnology V 1967, No. 204:59-90.

13.       Rogers ES: The Quest for Food and Furs: The Mistassini Cree, 1953-1954, vol. 1st edition. Ottawa: National Musems of Canada; 1973.

14.       Honigmann JJ: Ethnography and Acculturation of the Fort Nelson Slave, vol. Yale University Publications in Anthropology Number 33. New Haven: Yale University Press; 1946.

15.       Honigmann JJ: Foodways in a Muskeg Community: An Anthropological Report on the Attawapiskat Indians. Ottawa: Northern Co-ordination and Research Centre, Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources; 1948.

16.       Honigmann JJ: Fishing. In: Foodways in a Muskeg Community. edn. Ottawa: Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources; 1961: 143-150.

17.       McNulty GE, Gilbert L: Attikamek (Tete de Boule). In: Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 6: Subarctic. edn. Edited by Helm J. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; 1981: 208-209.

18.       Salisbury RF: A Homeland for the Cree: Regional Development in James Bay 1971-1981. Kingston/Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press; 1986.

19.       Tuck JA: Northern Iroquoian Prehistory. In: Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 15: Northeast. edn. Edited by Trigger BG. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; 1978: 322-325.

20.       Smith DM: Moose - Deer Island House People: A History of the Native People of Fort Resolution. National Museum of Man Mercury Series Canadian Ethnology Service Paper 1982, 81.

21.       Feit HA: Waswanipi Realities and Adaptations: Resource Management and Cognitive Structure. In.; 1978.

22.       Rogers ES: Subsistence. In: The Hunting Group-Hunting Territory Complex among the Mistassini Indians. edn. Ottawa: National Museum of Canada Bulletin No. 195; 1963: 32-53.

23.       Densmore F: Industrial Year. In: Chippewa Customs. edn.: Minnesota Historical Society Press; 1979: 119-131.

24.       Feit HA: The Ethno-Ecology of the Waswanipi Cree; or How Hunters can Manage their Resources. In: Cultural Ecology. edn. Edited by Cox B: McClelland and Stewart; 1973: 115-125.

25.       Raby S, Bone RM, Shannon EN: An Historic and Ethnographic Account to the 1920's. In: The Chipewyan of The Stony Rapids Region; a study of their changing world with special attention focused upon caribou. Volume 1st edition, edn. Edited by Bone RM. Saskatoon: Institute for Northern Studies, University of Saskatchewan; 1973: 12-47.

26.       Smith JGE: Chipewyan. In: Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 6: Subarctic. edn. Edited by Helm J. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; 1981: 271-277.

27.       Smith JGE: Western Woods Cree. In: Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 6: Subarctic. edn. Edited by Helm J. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution; 1981: 256-262.

28.       Wein EE, Sabry JH: Use of Country Foods by Native Canadians in the Taiga. Arct Med Res 1988, 47(1):134-138.

29.       Honigmann JJ: The Kaska Indians: An Ethnographic Reconstruction. New Haven: Yale University Press; 1954.

30.       Wein EE: Nutrient Intakes and Use of Country Foods by Native Canadians Near Wood Buffalo National Park. In.; 1989.