Nelson+Rural+-+First+Nation+People+on+the+Miramichi+River

Group Members: Evan, Mallory, Monica, Vince, Katelynn, Lindsay

Project: First Nation Relations - How First Nations people manipulated the Miramichi River for Survival (podcast) **Summary** In this project the first thing our group did was gather up some questions that we might want to ask. After we got about 15 questions on our wikispace, we gathered up some phone numbers of people who might be able to give us informaion about our subject or answer a few of our questions. We didnt get very many answers by phone until a man named Lloyd Catfish Ginnish brought us a binder full of information and some interseting books. We read through some of the stuff and got some good info. After that we made a word document about what we learned. Here is what we got on the final project. -Evan, Vince, Lindsay, Mallory, Katelynnnnnnn, Monica.

Hunting - They would bring a dog hunting with them to find a moose or deer, then the men would surround the moose or deer and spear it. The women had the job of cleaning and cutting the meat. Fishing- They caught huge sturgeon 5 ft long and weighing up to 500lbs! They would light a torch on their canoe and the sturgeon would get attracted so they could spear them. They also had to wait for them to roll because the spear could not penetrate the upper skin because it was too tough. After they would smoke the fish. At low tide lobsters were dug out of the sand with sticks, grabbed by the tail and placed in a bark vessel. Shellfish were dug out at low tide and were roasted on coals. Mussels and clams were located by their breathing holes, "spitting". A bone gorge served as a fish hook, a peice of bone sharp at both ends. sometimes people fished without hooks, using bait attached to the line. The teeth of the fish get caught in the bait or the fish swallows the bait. This method was used for trout, salmon and smelt. A net fifty yards in length is made out of intertwined branched of birch, was put into the water near the shore while some tended to the net, others splashed about in the water to lure the fish to the net. Ice Fishing is still practiced in a old time way. A hole is cut in the ice, and one would watch through the whole to see when the fish were running. Low tide or high tide, then comes back the next day and catches them. Canoes- The canoe skin was made from birch bark. The frame was ade of cedar, Tied together using spruce root. All the roots were sealed with a combination of spruce gum, and bear fat. The river didn't really have a spiritual meaning but they called it the giver of life because it was a source of food and water.