Yup'ik Dance & Culture; LKSD Blackfish: English Copy

The following program is part of a lower Costco-Krim school district bilingual instructional television project. The original program was produced in the U.B. language. This program is about techniques for trapping blackfish. The winter tundra by surface appearance is a place of little life and little activity. But when a person takes the time to discover what life does exist, it is possible to live one's life utilizing food that the tundra provides. Andrew Jicoyak is 79 years old and has spent his life learning that the land he lives on can provide sustenance.

All these today's The blackfish cannot be found.

They are hiding from their predators of pike and lush. The blackfish hide in the grassy swamp areas. This usually happens during the summer. If you know what to listen for, you can hear the music. You can hear them surfacing and feeding in the swamp areas. Oftentimes, the blackfish will get trapped in the marshes and swamps when the water is low. There is an area floating tundra between their swamp and the river. When the water is high, the vegetation mass floats. When the water is low, the mass rests on the bottom of the swamp. During freeze-up, the blackfish will leave these marsh areas and school in ponds that have outlets to and from the flowing rivers. The blackfish move with the current. The current flow is normally with the river as it flows towards its mouth.

But sometimes, tidal action causes the current to reverse itself. The blackfish trap is set at a location where there is a small creek or slough providing excess from the marsh to the river. The fish will swim out and when they return, they will swim into the trap. First, we have the The traditional trap that is used for catching blackfish is made out of

driftwood and spruce roots. It takes Andrew Jaquerak about two full days and nights to complete a trap. Mr. Jaquerak uses the length of his forearm to show the width of the mouth of the trap. The trap is made from many small strips of wood that are spliced together. The pieces are rarely longer than one foot. The pieces are bound together with thin strips of spruce root that are similar in appearance to leather lacing. The

that's one or a The end of the trap is formed by carving a small piece of wood. And placing it like a plug into the end of the trap and then binding it with its roots and strips.

I am a little bit more of a good one. I am a little bit more of a good one. I am a little bit more of a good one. I am a little bit more of a good one. I use the process, knotting and joining the strips takes practice and patience. The spiral binding that holds a parallel strips in shape is split and is formed with plybells, fruits and strips. To make the strips applyable, they must be chewed. Rohl blog and I'm very proud of the

When the strip is ready to be added to the trap, it is placed on the spiral, like Mr. Jacoyak is showing here, and wrapped around the parallel strips, going around and around until you get close to the end of the binding. When the binding ends, a new strip is placed on, and the wrapping activity continues. When you get close to the end of the binding, you will be able to get close to the end of the binding.

When you get close to the end of the binding, you will be able to get close to the end of the binding. At the end of the trap, there is a little opening. This opening is blocked with a piece of wood that looks like a large needle.

This piece of wood, as well as all of the parts of the trap, are carved with tools made especially for the purpose of making a fish trap. This is the tool Mr. Jacoyak uses to make the wooden strips for the trap. He made the tool around 1945. The steel part used to be much wider. The handle is made from a reindeer bone. It used to be harder, you know, to scare him. This small tool is used for splitting the roots into strips.

You use it as he is showing here. It is also used for shaping the strips. This heavy tool is used on the logs and large roots. The wedge is also used to split the logs and roots. Mr. Jacoyak made his tools for specific purposes. This tool needed to make the holes more transparent in place. Oh man, what if I didn't say anything, you say it?

Yes, I know! No, just take the the The shaving tool is used to remove the sharp edges from the strips. While working this way, he has blistered his fingers.

To prevent this from happening, he cut the finger and thumb out of an oil pair of leather gloves and now ties them to his wrist with scraps of cloth and continues working without blistering his fingers. This is what the strips of spruce root look like. This rule is not ready to be used yet. It will be soaked and then chewed before it is used. You cannot be without these kinds of tools and materials when you are making a fish trap.

It would must be tough but also pliable. When you make one for the first time, it will be hard. And then the next time, it will get easier and pretty soon it will be very easy. Andrew Ticoyak's trap location has been productive for many years.

When locating a blackfish trap site, one uses an understanding of blackfish that is passed from generation to generation. When you are on the river at a possible blackfish trap site, you check the depth of the water that flows under the ice. If it is a good location, there will be between one and two feet of water flowing under the ice, if there is any less, the site is not good because the ice can freeze all the way to the bottom. The trap is set near the bank in such a way that the fish are funneled into it. If there is too much space between the bank and the trap, many fish will escape. Do you enjoy that route? Where are we? Thanks for today.

Thanks for today's video, my friends. Overall, I'm going to cover these 2 phone Patreon papers and phone cards. I spent a very long time Therefore, we were going to look for the nextild Mogulim's The traditional wooden trap is used most often by the Tundur village people.

The metal and wire traps that were experimented with some years back become too soft after one season. Some people feel that they don't hold as many fish as it would in traps. If there are a lot of fish being caught, the traps are checked every day.

If the catch is small, the trap will be checked every two or three days. The Tundur people like Blackfish. When winter comes, men go out to catch the fish. They remember when they were boys and their elders sought them to be good fish catchers. For the squirrel, they've got a strong calf. .

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