![]() ![]() ![]() Aboriginal cultures developed a process to extract that fish oil to create a vitamin-rich grease that resembles vegetable shortening-though with a malty, fishy flavor that is, famously, an acquired taste-and that could be transported or stored without spoiling. ![]() Today, the fish that used to safeguard native people from starvation is itself in need of a lifeline.Įulachon was once such a valuable commodity that trade routes in coastal British Columbia and southeast Alaska came to be known as "grease trails." The eulachon's buttery flesh is so rich in oil that a dried fish will light and burn like a candle. In lean years the eulachon's arrival meant the difference between life and death for people up and down the coast. ( Read "How First Nations Can Take on Canada's Oil Industry and Win.")īut the fish are also known as halimotkw, often translated as "savior fish" or "salvation fish." Eulachon return to the rivers here to spawn at the end of the North Pacific winter, when historically food supplies would be running low. In lean years the eulachon's arrival meant the difference between life and death.Īlong the river's banks, you can still hear eulachon spoken of as saak, their name in the language of the Nisga'a, one of the indigenous peoples known in Canada as First Nations and in the U.S. ![]()
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