Fish Trap
date: label: Accession Date
content: 27 Jan 1910
name: label: Donor Name
content: U.S. Department Of Interior
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CONDITION REPORT AFTER REMOVAL FROM EXHIBIT HALL 9 (C. VALENTOUR 3/98): "CONICAL SHAPED MADE FROM THIN WOODEN STICKS, GATHERED AT ONE END, BRACED W/ COILED BRAIDING OF FIBER SPIRALING AROUND TRAP. OTHER END OPEN W/ INTERIOR CONICAL OPENING & TRAP."
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=319 , retrieved 11-3-2021; see web page for additional information: Fish trap, Yup'ik. Tiny blackfish swarm in freshwater lakes and slow-moving streams on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Cone-shaped traps like this model are used in winter to catch them. Traps are set in narrow channels so that the fish are forced to swim inside. Cone-shaped traps for blackfish (Dallia pectoralis) are still made in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, either of wire mesh or in the traditional style that uses split lathes of spruce and other woods. Full-sized traps vary in size but might typically be about 5 feet (1.5 m) long and 18 inches (46 cm) in diameter. Blackfish in the Yup'ik region are small but provide an abundant and reliable food source from fall through spring. In the late 19th century, Edward Nelson noted that "vast quantities" of the fish were harvested, giving them a crucial role in the winter food supply. Blackfish live in freshwater lakes, pools, and sloughs on the tundra, and concentrate in areas where they can find holes in the ice to breathe directly from the atmosphere, an extremely rare ability in fish. Subsistence fishers place their traps in slow-moving streams or channels with the mouths pointing upstream, and may use wicker fences to channel the fish into the opening. Blackfish are very hardy and can survive in the trap for days or even weeks. The traditional teaching is that blackfish, like all other creatures, are highly aware of human behavior and will allow themselves to be trapped only by those with clean and careful habits. Special prohibitions-such as never catching blackfish with dip nets-are observed to avoid giving offense to the fish.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 3 Nov 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Yukon River (Lower), Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Yup'ik
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 051115
label: USNM Number
content: E260745-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Trap
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 60 cm
label: Diameter - Object
content: 13.5 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 61 cm