Goldeye were reported to have been eaten by the Fort Nelson Slave (Dene), First Nations of Ontario, Plains Cree, Chipewyan and Métis of Wood Buffalo National Park and Waswanipi Cree were reported to have eaten goldeye [1-6]. Goldeye were caught in fall and winter. The Waswanipi caught them in streams along shores using nets, while the Fort Nelson Slave caught them using weirs built during the summer, setting them in shallow creeks or rivers. The Athapaskan Slave caught them using weirs and/or gill nets [2, 3, 5]. The Red Earth Cree of Saskatchewan were reported to have eaten goldeye, catching them in late spring with nets. Some families from Wawinahk and Sokawatikoskahk would journey to the Man River and camp near the mouth of the river to fish. Most goldeye was filleted, dried and ground into powder, which could be stored. The remaining fish was filleted, the liver removed and the flesh boiled. Oil was extracted from the liver for later use; the oil being compared to cod liver oil [7].
Plains Cree and some First Nations of Ontario are likely to have also consumed the similar, co-occurring mooneye.
References
1. Rogers ES: Aboriginal Ontario: historical perspectives on the First Nations. Toronto: Dundurn Press; 1994.
2. Feit HA: Waswanipi Realities and Adaptations: Resource Management and Cognitive Structure. In.; 1978.
3. Honigmann JJ: Ethnography and Acculturation of the Fort Nelson Slave. New Haven: Yale University Press; 1946.
4. Mandelbaum DG: The Plains Cree: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Comparative Study, vol. 1st edition. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center; 1979.
5. Vanstone JW: Athapaskan Adaptations: Hunters and Fishermen of the Subarctic Forests. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company; 1974.
6. Wein EE, Sabry JH: Use of Country Foods by Native Canadians in the Taiga. Arct Med Res 1988, 47(1):134-138.
7. 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.
Mooneyes are a large group of freshwater fish represented in North America by only two species: the goldeye (Hiodon alosoides) and the mooneye (H. tergisus). They both occur in eastern United States, in Ontario and Quebec, south of the James Bay, in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and in Alberta, but only the goldeye is found in northeastern British Columbia and in the Northwest Territories. They might resemble salmonid species, but lack the adipose fin (small fleshy fin located between the dorsal fin and the tail) and have teeth on the jaws and tongue and a dorsal fin placed far down the back. Both species have large eyes situated high in the front of the head, a deeply forked tail, large scales, and a laterally compressed body with a silvery colour. They can grow quite big, to around 50 cm long. The goldeye has bright golden iris, as indicated by its common name.
Reference
Wooding FH: Lake, river and sea-run fishes of Canada. Madeira Park, BC, Canada: Harbour Publishing; 1997.