Spearing bass, and some lessons

My people are known as Mississauga Ojibway Indians/First Nations. Our entire culture revolves/revolved around the water. We were highly mobile, compared to our neighbors- the Iroquois. Whether relying on wild rice, ducks, geese, frogs, beaver or fish, the majority of our food came from lakes, rivers and marshes. As with many other eastern woodlands/Great Lakes tribes, we employed a lot of methods for catching fish, including weirs, basket traps, bowfishing, netting and spearing. Though some tribes in the Americas did use hooks and lines, I have not seen any evidence of the Ojibway nations doing so. 

Spearfishing for the most part is highly illegal in present-day Ontario, except for one exception; if you are a First Nation with hunting and fishing rights within the province, or within a certain part of Ontario. My community -the Mississaugas of Rice Lake, also known as Hiawatha First Nation- had no hunting rights for the past century or so. I'm not going to make this into a political discussion, so suffice it to say, back in December that was finally resolved and my community was granted hunting and fishing rights back into our traditional territory. This might explain one of the many reasons that I have not had the chance to post as frequently as I did a year ago. Been hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering as much as I can!

So tonight, my cousin came over and explained that we were idiots for not focusing on spearfishing this past spring. We missed the pickerel run, mostly due to my school schedule, but also to the severe weather we've had in Ontario this spring.. literally 4 ft high waves on Rice Lake during a large portion of the pickerel spawning run (which makes for really crappy spearfishing. We had talked a lot about it over the past month, and finally decided tonight to just go out and try the new spears we made back in March. Josh (the cousin) couldn't find his, so we ended up with just mine. 

My spear is made from a young white pine sapling that is approximately 8ft long, two steel prongs, and lashed together with codline (I believe this is often called Bankline south of the 49th). The prongs were made by me with a miniature forge of firebricks and a gas-torch. I used standard steel rods that were 3/16ths of an inch thick. I bought the rods from Home Depot. The ends were bent at a 90-degree angle while under heat, and then the rods were annealed. Once annealed, I cut very small barbs into the rods, and tape the tips to a fairly fine point. These I plan to make larger later when I get the new forge built next Friday. After that is all done, its' time to harden and then temper the prongs. This is where it gets interesting, as the tips of the prongs must be hard enough to hold a sharp tip, yet soft enough that when you strike a rock (not IF you strike a rock, but WHEN you strike a rock) you don't snap the tips of your prongs. Basically what I like to do is keep the entire prong fairly soft in temper, except for the very tip (which I keep about the same hardness as a knife). So first I bring them up to temperature where the steel is no longer magnetic. Once that is done, I quenched them in old motor oil. Then I scrape the steel clean with wire brushes, so that I can watch the tempering procedure. Using a gas-torch, I dance the flame back and forth, aiming for a light blue tone on the majority of the prong. However, I only aim for a light brassy tone on the last 1/2 inch of prong, towards the tip. 

Once the prongs are tempered, I drill a small hole into the spearshaft (at the thick end) about 3-4 inches in from the end. This hole is about 3/16" in diameter, and fits the bent ends of the prongs snugly. I add a slight channel from the hole to the end of the spearshaft, to help hold the prongs snugly. Once this is done, I shape the end to be a bit more aqua-dynamic, and then fit the prongs in. Afterwards, I lashed codline tightly around the prongs. This technique is what I learned from an old Chippewa Ojibway from Saugeen First Nation (over on Lake Huron). The spear end looks like this;



Alright, so onto the fun part...

We get into my Kawartha canoe, whose nickname is aptly "Tippy". We have no proper lighting, so we use two flashlights. With only one spear, and obviously wanting to control the canoe, I had Josh sit in the bow, while I paddled us at a snail's crawl. Two tips for anyone wanting to try boat-based spearfishing; get good lighting and a real stable canoe. We'll be building an English-style punt this summer out of pine and cedar boards, both for duck season, and for the fall pickerel run. Josh was hoping for pickerel, but I knew we were unlikely to find any. We ended up scouting the water out for at least 45 minutes. After a while of checking along the cattail edge and finding nothing, we turned back and went westerly along the north shore of Rice Lake, heading for the rock and stumps of the shallows. 

This was where we found luck. After missing twenty or more Large-mouthed bass, Josh had one close by. WHACK! And that was when the struggle began. Believe me on this, if you think a fish can put up a fight on a hook and line, you have not seen a 5lb bass get hit by an Ojibway with a spear! He held her to the bottom until she stopped struggling for the most part. Every muscle in his upper body was straining -to keep the fish on the spear AND to keep his butt in the canoe! Finally he flipped her in. 

Next lesson; kill any fish you spear immediately. We decided to not "bother" with that, though something told us both that we should. That was when we saw an 8lb mother of all bass cruise right for the spear tip... and that was when the bass Josh caught decided to spasm and slam into the hull of the canoe repeatedly. The 8er was gone in a flash, and it took us another 30 minutes to see any fish. This is why we decapitated the one Josh caught. No more splashing attempts.. We were turning back to head home (it was well past 1am at this point, and we started around 11pm), when Josh saw one that was less than a pound. "Don't bother Cousin, I don't think you can get one that small with that spea-WHACK!" Annnd that was when Josh learned that even a tiny fish on a spear can put up a helluva fight. Once he flipped her into the boat, I severed the spine immediately, so that we'd have no repeats. Josh got close to another half a dozen, but they always eluded his shots. I tried a few times, but gave up, as its' difficult to aim from the back of the canoe! When it hit 2am, we knew it was time to pack it in. The night air was just above freezing tonight, even though the water was warm. I was soaked, and my butt was asleep. Josh's ankles were burning from crouching to balance the canoe with every shot he took.

So here are our results! 



Not too bad!

We'll be building a better boat, and setting up a proper lighting system on it. As well, we'll be making some Australian-style fishing spears, with paralyzer-style prongs. I'll also be setting up my bow with a reel in a few days, as the carp are everywhere! 

Anyways, I'm tired, and we've got at least one successful night of spearfishing in this spring. Glad to be back on the forums, hope y'all enjoy the read!

Guest Blogger: Arthur Haines - How Being Healthy Protects Drinking Water

Once again I have the honour of welcoming my good friend Arthur's words onto this blog. In the near future I will be interviewing Arthur on the Living the Thirteen Moons Podcast. If you wish to know more about him, check out the Delta Institute of Natural History, or his Youtube Channel.  The reason I wanted this on my blog is three-fold. The first and foremost reason is because I care about water quality, for both us and the environment itself. This reason is enough for me to want this sort of knowledge on here. However I also work at a wonderful program called TRACKS Youth Outreach, which focuses on teaching Native and non-Native youth about science, especially environmental science. You can find us on Facebook here. We have been teaching a lot about water health and what our people in Western culture can do to protect the water that is on this big, beautiful planet. This is another good reason to pass on this information regarding water health. Finally, with the recent proceedings here in Canada, we have lost a lot of fundamental protection for our lakes, rivers and streams. It is up to us now as citizens to do our part to take care of our waterways. This again is a fundamental reason as to why this article is vital for our continuing survival, not to mention our current environment's. So a big big miigwetch to Arthur Haines, and without further adieu...

How Being Healthy Protects Drinking Water

First, let’s build awareness of the issue: pharmaceutical drugs (among other chemicals) are routinely detected in public drinking water supplies here in the United States. One of the primary sources of these drugs is people--specifically, those who use pharmaceutical drugs. When you use a drug (prescription or over-the-counter) some of that drug passes un-metabolized through your body and is excreted into the septic system. Those drugs then enter the ground water or sewer systems (depending on where you live) and ultimately end up in the bodies of wild animals or in the bodies of people (especially if you live in an area with waste water treatment facilities that recycle water for drinking). So, to summarize this paragraph, many people in metropolitan areas (and some people in rural areas) are being exposed to low, constant doses of antibiotic, antifertility, pain-relieving, and mood-altering medications. Even aquifers have been found to be contaminated by synthetic medicines.

The amount of these drugs in the public water system is low (it would be described as trace). That has led many water suppliers to claim there is no harm caused by the presence of these compounds. However, no test has shown that exposure is safe (especially in the long run) and some recent research finds that harm is being caused. Remember that most medicine is to be taken for a short time and then discontinued. But when you get low doses in your drinking water, you are constantly exposed to a myriad of chemicals--in one review, 63 drugs were found during testing in watersheds around cities and 56 of those were in the public water supply. These low dose medicines in the water have been shown to slow growth of human embryonic kidney cells, speed cancer cell proliferation, and alter blood cell activity. Further, there is evidence that adding chlorine, a common component of urban drinking water, makes the pharmaceutical drugs more toxic. There is no doubt that some wildlife species are being affected. For example, male fish in some areas are being feminized.

So, what do you do about this? Well, you may decide to drink only spring water. That would protect you and your family (note: your home filtration system was likely not designed to remove trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs). But what about those people who can’t afford bottled water? And what about the other-than-human-persons we share this world with? This is a case where we need to be unselfish. Drugs in the water supply are going to come back to harm us. What if your child lives or one day moves to a metropolitan area and becomes exposed to these compounds? The solution for this dilemma is that we need to be healthier. We need to ingest fewer drugs, wash and adorn ourselves with more eco-friendly products (because those end up in the water as well), and even consider what our toilet paper is doing to the world (recycled paper contains Bisphenol-A, an endocrine disruptor, which also ends up in the water supply).

Regardless of your diet and lifestyle, most people will become ill and be in need of medicine at some point in their life. This is where I encourage people to turn to natural products, even better, those medicines that they gather from the landscapes around their homes. These plants and fungi are ever present in the ecosystem. They are eaten by animals (who excrete them into the environment). They decay in the fall, releasing minerals and various natural compounds. They are all around us, in the leaf litter and in the ground water, and anyone who spends time in the outdoors is constantly exposed to them. Based on what we know, constant exposure to wild plant phytochemicals has a role in generating health (so long as toxins are avoided). Hypothetically, if I were to ingest staghorn sumac for an infection, I would ultimately be excreting chemicals that are already found in the watershed (where I gathered them in the first place). There is no introduction of new or synthetic compounds. No need to gain resistance to novel drugs. No need to worry about the secondary impacts.

Being healthy is the primary way we protect our water supplies from pharmaceutical drugs. Using natural medicine is the second line of defense. Of course, the over-arching principle here is that we need to be aware of what our actions do to the world (and the many ways that poor health hurts everyone, not just the person afflicted with the ailment). Remember: humans did not weave the web of life, they are merely a strand in it. Whatever humans do to the web, they do to themselves (adapted from Chief Seattle).

Meat and preparing for the cold times.

Back in early November, my cousin got his first deer. A lot of emotions are brought up for a person when they see a large animal die right in front of them. Rabbits, ducks and fish are just as important, and I am not discrediting their deaths as non-emotional or anything like that. However to see something as large as a deer, or bear or moose die for the first time is for many of us extremely moving.

I remember getting my first deer (only a few years ago, even though I have been hunting for literally half of my life), and how messed up it left me for a long few weeks. I had caught, killed and cleaned many a fish and bird. I had butchered countless deer and moose. Death of a fellow moving, breathing creature was definitely not something new for me. However as I watched the deer (a young but very large buck) seem to suddenly freeze on impact from my slug penetrating his chest and abdomen, and then keel over as if his legs were made out of rebar rather than tendons and muscles, it effected me in a way that to this day I cannot fully explain. I was happy, but disturbed. I knew I had just provided for my family. Acquired a hide and brains for new material. I knew the bones and sinew would bless me with more supplies. But to see a life drain out of an anima with such sudden swiftness (he thrashed for but a moment) is truly emotional. I take the subject of catching any animal very seriously -regardless of size or species. But at the same time, it is joyful. I whoop. I shout. I even laugh. However during that, I do what my people have always done; I pour water into the animal's mouth, I offer tobacco in thanks, I sing a small song of gratitude. I make sure the being sees the western sky. These things are tasks many Anishnaabe men (and women) feel obligated to do for the animal whose life we extinguished. Its' a give and take. The animal has done their work (sacrificed themselves' for us), now it is our turn to make good on the deal: by making sure we honour the animal.

However, this does not mean jokes are taboo, or banished. We laugh, and joke; "Holy crap this deer's liver is big enough to belong to a Frat Boy!", or "That goose is small enough to be a duck!". This is not disrespect in our eyes. Its' having fun with the animal who is still present. Teasing is a sign of affection in countless Native cultures here in Canada, just as it is in many non-Natve cultures. However, for us, it is really the way of life. Joking, and comedy are what bond all humans, and to find something humorous in an emotional moment is really a beautiful thing.

In this video, myself and my cousin butcher the deer that he caught just the night before. We skinned her in the dark, as we don't use knives between the gutting and butchering process. We skin the deer immediately after it is hung up, as this cools the deer, and is much faster than if we left the hide on for too long. It is also much better for the hide, as decomposition can happen in mere hours in the right circumstances. You won't hear much dialogue other than the joking (which I mentioned a moment ago). But it shows almost every step taken after the skin and head are removed.

I want to say a few things about this deer. I cannot speak on behalf of my cousin. I do not know if he went through the same emotions as I have. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I do know however that this deer was taken down with the most humane of a shot any hunter could ask for. She maybe ran 40 feet in total, if that. We tracked her immediately, and very early on we could tell she would be dead just around the corner. It was a clean kill, and she never suffered. We found her within two minutes of tracking, and she was already passed on. It was the perfect shot. I was there when she was seen, I was there when she was shot, and I helped with every step of the process once that deer was hit. I am very honest when I say that I am proud of my cousin, and was deeply honoured to be able to share that moment with him. It is a moment that I know will live on with him for the rest of his life.

While we are on the subject of meat, maybe I should discuss some further developments regarding acquiring meat. The goose we caught was a winged bird that another hunter had shot earlier in the day. We saw the young northern Canada goose hiding under a dock, and it was very clear that the wing was severely damaged. It was part mercy, and part need for food. I got in my canoe and when I tried to get him, he had paddled away! He was struggling to stay above the water, and even then got well over a kilometre from shore before I caught up to him. This shows the tenacity of wildlife when survival is on the line. I have seen a squirrel get hit with a broadhead from twenty feet away, and still run through seven different trees before finally succumbing to the injury. I have tracked a lung-shot deer for over two kilometres. Once I was within range, he was put out of his pain very swiftly with a twelve-gauge shotgun blast to the head. He was dead on impact. Once again, I took tobacco out and offered him thanks. I opened his mouth and let him have a drink, and while paddling back to shore, I sang him a song of gratitude, always keeping his head facing west.

Beyond meat that has already been acquired, I have a few projects underway. This weekend I will be purchasing some steel rods. I will be basement-forging them into special spikes made specifically for spearfishing. The Anisnaabeg are well known for their history as fishermen, especially with fish fences, and with spears. I will be making the shafts six or seven feet long out of cedar. This is because cedar is straight and light. Once done, two spikes that are seven inches long and barbed all the way up. We live where pickerel, bass, pike and perch all flourish, and our ancestors' way of life revolved around spearfishing.

The other project is the buckthorn bow. This project was originally a theory I had after spending a week with Mors Kochanski. The theory was that I could take a dense, yet elastic wood, that is an invasive specie that is overwhelming our forests, and produce serviceable and strong bows from it. Purging Buckthorn is a very invasive tree that overshadows other forest plants and goes to leaf earlier and remains in leaf longer than most of our native hardwoods. So my goal was to be able to give our native trees a bit of an advantage, be repeatedly cutting back the buckthorn, and using it for tasks (knife and axe handles, basketry material, bows and lodge poles) and leave our native trees be. So far the theory I had ha already been proven by a gentleman over at Primitive Archer, and even Quicky Bows I have seen made by Skeet Sutherland from Sticks and Stones Wilderness School. However, ever being the man trying to return to a traditional Anishnaabe diet and lifestyle, I have decided to produce an Ojibwa style Flatbow from this wood. If you want to see a good example of an Ojibwa bow, check out this video from my friend Mike at Boarrior Bows. This in my eyes is something very important and specific, as my people are currently struggling with the idea of self-determination through decolonization. In my eyes, we cannot go back in time. We must move forward, and with that, we must accept modern influences, or at least introduce western materials into our more "primitive" technologies. A good example is beer bottle glass arrowheads, such as the one produced in the video of Brian from TrackersNW. These are very popular and very very effective. I have also made knives, and spearheads from the glass from old televisions. I've been saving a good piece to later make into a clovis point, such as the one being made in this video with stone. My belief is that if we take traditional technology and philosophies, and blend them with the materials available now by recycling and reusing, it can be a lot better for all of us. Again, which would be better for our environment? Practising our traditional skills with materials that are already at risk (one of the best woods in this part of Canada is white ash, which is being targetted by the Emerald Ash Borer), or with materials that are invading or causing problems in our environment (such as purging buckthorn)?

So as we speak, I have several three-inch and four-inch diameter staves of purging buckthorn seasoning in my house for the winter. I stripped the bark, and dipped the ends in pine pitch to prevent cracking. By Baakade Giizis (The Hunger Moon/February), I will be able to start shaping them into traditional style bows.

I should have a video up sometime next week about the fishing spear making. Hope you all enjoy it!

Ojibway story and archeology helping to define harvesting practices.

As the past few months have come and gone, several things have been happening. During the Leaves Changing Colour Moon (September) I was busy focusing on harvesting ducks, rice and geese. Much of this sadly due to my school and work schedules ended with very little success.

The title Leaves Changing Colour Moon is fairly self explanatory, however it is truly awe-inspiring as to how much it changes. Subtly at first, with speckles of orange yellow bleeding into the poplar leaves. The birches and beeches begin to gain an ochre hue and by the time of the full moon, the maples and sumacs have climaxed to a vast series of red shades. Sometimes a soft painting of a red sunrise, and sometimes the darkness of freshly spilled blood.

This correlates almost perfectly with the star constellation Ursa major (The Big Dipper) becoming almost perfectly horizontal. This near exact parallel line to the horizon is truly spectacular, and each year leaves me in awe.

There is a traditional story (Many of the Anishnaabeg do not like the terms mythology or legend) regarding a great bear, that is seen in the constellation of Ursa major. The "bowl" of the big dipper represents the bear. The "handle" of three stars represent three hunters tracking and hunting the great bear. Right at the beginning of the Leaves Changing Colour Moon, the hunters finally shoot the bear, and it falls onto its' back. The great bear's blood drains from the sky and paints the maple and sumac leaves red.

This may sound like a quaint and simple folk's little story to explain the stars changing their directions, but let us look more critically. The metaphor regarding the hunters becoming successful at the beginning of the moon is fairly critical. Especially in regards to a bear (which symbolizes in and of itself "fat" and "meat"). It symbolizes the concept of the killing of large game. In much of Anishnaabeg history, the summer months are almost primarily fishing and wild fruit gathering. Whole communities would move to the best fishing grounds in their territory, and remain there come the Ricing Moon only if the waters were rich in rice as well. If not, they moved onto the ricing lakes, and then proceeded to work on duck blinds and decoys while there.

Decoys would be made out of tamarack, willow, dogwood and even cattail. Look at the Cree, Innu and Algonquin people, and the very popular craft of Tamarack Ducks and Geese. These were at one time easily made, deployed and extremely effective decoys for ducks and geese of many varieties. The most well known is the Cree Tamarack Goose. The hollow space on the "head" of the decoy when set on the snow would look white, with the rest of the decoy being a dark brown. This would mimic a Canada goose with its' brown body and white cheeks very effectively.  Another variation used in this region (central Ontario) was to bundle a bunch of cattail together and with simple tufting of the leaves and stems, with good basswood bark strips, a very believable duck would be seen sitting amongst the reeds. With a few dozen of these set up, with good ground and swamp blinds and the well trained voices of experienced duck hunters, it was sometimes a little too easy.

As the rice began to peter out, the Anishnaabeg would focus their energy towards harvesting any and all migratory waterfowl. Ducks and geese were obvious targets, but lesser known targets would include; swans, bitterns, herons, cranes, and even loons. These birds would be plucked (feathers saved to be used for feather fletchings, lures, paintbrushes, decorations and ceremonial items), cleaned and then smoked to help preserve them. Geese and their high fat content were the main objective.

Anybody who has lived in the north country long enough knows how important a high caloric intake is to remain warm. With fish, berries, roots, ducks, geese and wild rice, the calories for the beginning of winter were already looking pretty good. Add some large mammals and maybe a couple bushels of acorns, and it was looking like a no-brainer for surviving the winter. As long as grouse, hares, squirrels, and the occasional winter moose were slain, high vitamin intake was easy. Fresh meat is high in Vitamin C. The minute it was dried or frozen however, this vital part of our diet was lost. This means either an intake of fresh meat on occasion, or the brewing and drinking of evergreen teas (cedar, pine, spruce and hemlock tree needles all make good Vitamin C rich brews). It is an evolutionary detriment in practically all primates that we can neither produce, nor contain Vitamin C. We must ingest it on a regular basis, in fear of scurvy or other illnesses taking their toll. Many a European explorer died from scurvy, with their deathbeds being spruce boughs. All the while their native counterparts flourished, because of simple spruce needle tea.

But Vitamin C was only one component. Without the high caloric value of protein and fat, the body would not survive long in -40. Protein requires three calories to be burned for every calorie of it to be burned. This makes for a hot digestion. This is one of the reasons meat is not needed in the heat of summer as much as fruit is. It is also the exact same reason it is needed for winter. Incomplete proteins made by plants (legumes, grains, etc) are effective, but are not running rampant in pre-European contact times. Yes, we had beans and wild rice, but the problem was, these did not also offer a high fat content like large mammals could.

Ah yes, fat. The part most of us could use less of in our diets (along with many other things). However, for any of us whose ancestors once lived in northern climates, fat was life. The oils were needed to help keep our internal furnace flourishing, and sadly if we lived off of strictly lean meat, starvation would set in. The threat was called Rabbit Starvation, and it has claimed enough people in the past -including members of the Franklin Expedition- to make it a dangerous truth about life in the wilderness in winter. Needless to say it is a horrible way to go, and there are many theories regarding what really causes it, but regardless it is well known that without fat and carbohydrates, the body slowly tilts into this condition. Though I hate citing Wikipedia, it has a good description about what we know of the condition. So let me cite something more effective in regards to historical importance of meat .

I was gifted a copy of a 1984 report regarding the McIntyre Site (located on the southern shore of Rice Lake). The report is titled "Johnston RB (ed) 1984 'The McIntyre Site: Archeology, Subsistence and Environment. Archeological Survey of Canada Paper No. 126. Ottawa: National Museum of Man. (Mercury Series)". Sounds pretty legitimate to me, so here we go.

Inside of the report is an accumulation of animal remains from the one site. This being Table 10 of the report, titled "Meat Yield from McIntyre Site Features (Extrapolated Flotation and Combined Large Bone and Flotation Samples)". For this, we'll focus on the combined two samples.

In total, the usable meat is precisely 1,629,341 grams. In Kilograms, that is about 1,629.34 Kg. In pounds, that is approximately 3,592Lbs of meat. The five largest sources of usable meat are as follows:

1)White-tailed deer (590,200g)
2) Black bear (286,000g)
3) Beaver (204,000g)
4) Sucker/Tullibee/Chub fish (182,686g)
5) Freshwater Drum (127,673g)

Now I want to point out three things;

The first part is the fact that a total of thirty-five species were consumed. Of that, fifteen were mammal species (ranging from vole to bear), twelve were fish species, five were reptile (mostly types of turtle and a single snake specie), two were bird (both ducks), and one was an amphibian (that being leopard frog).

The second thing was that this part of the report was focusing on meat, there is a whole other part of the report focusing on plants. Though meat was invaluable, plants were just as important for daily survival, let alone long-term living on the land.

The final point I want to make is that this is just one site. Over 3,500 pounds of usable meat was consumed in this site alone. How many people lived there, and for how long? Well, we can only guess. However this is a valuable insight into what was consumed back then. Were moose, elk, bison or other large game in the site? Other than black bear and white-tailed deer, practically everything else was the size of a wolf or smaller. But what about geese and turkeys? No finding on the McIntyre Site according to this report has shown large birds of any kind consumed. But we see a lot of water animals being consumed. Beaver, fish (a dozen varieties at that!), turtles, frogs, ducks, muskrats and raccoons are all marshland and lake animals. In fact, of the top five species eaten, three are water animals (beaver, sucker and drum)!

Once the birds finished their movements, the people focused on the mammals, snaring rabbits, trapping beaver and hunting for the deer, bear and other fauna of the woodlands. As they migrated north to the winter camps, they prepared jerky, pemmican, tallow and hides. This lifestyle was cyclical and vital for the land to remain in balance. Much of Ojibway culture and healing revolves around balance, and their hunting practises are no exclusion.

So let us celebrate the hunting season with these thoughts in mind. Remember, you eat what you kill, and you only kill what you need. Waste not, want not!

The Realities of Harvesting Wild Plants.

Originally published in 2010 in Self-Reliance Illustrated

Introduction

There are many schools of thought  regarding the harvesting, preparation and consuming of plants found outdoors. This article is not meant to discredit wild plants as a viable food source -which they definitely are- but to help the reader understand some inherent risks and help them gather safely. Wild plants are definitely of great value to the outdoors person, as a food staple, a tea, an herbal remedy or as a functional piece of their tools. But unsafe practices could jeopardize an otherwise enjoyable pastime or even the safety of the survivor. So to make our outdoor skills more enjoyable, some realistic outlook must be involved.

Flora versus Fauna:

    There are very few animals in the forests that cannot be eaten. The majority of mammals, reptiles and birds are safe to consume, as are most fish and some amphibians and insects. On the other hand, there are many plants that have to either be prepared to make them safe to eat, or are not safe to eat at all. Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)is a good example, where the root is a good meal if dried thoroughly or cooked for a long period. Otherwise the painful burning sensation caused by the oxalic acid can lead to more serious complications (due to the poisoning).

Even animals that are suspect of disease can in most circumstances be cooked well enough to kill any parasites or pathogens (this is not always the case, so please research and use educated judgement). Whereas an unripe Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum )could cause an excruciatingly painful experience, cooked or uncooked.

It is believed the Inuit had (past tense due to modern diet) one of the healthiest lifestyles when it came down to diet. Their diet consisted of very little plant-life except during the summer months. Being mostly carnivorous, they consumed great quantities of protein, fat, vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium (via marrow and bones), and many fatty acids and other important nutrients. On the other hand there is great argument now that grains and other plants have such cellulose that the digestive tract of the human being is not made to break them down enough to gain full nutritional value. This explains how a raw vegetable diet helps the dieter lose so much weight! Add the high Omega -6 fatty acids compared to Omega-3's in many modern grains (wheat especially).

Does this mean plants are useless as food? Of course not, but be aware that you must have very good identification of the plant before harvesting it. In summer the amount of blueberries (Vaccinum myrtilloides) that can be harvested from a single field is astounding. On the other hand anyone that has tried hunting moose (Alces alces) can attest that it is rare to find a large enough population to take your pick as to which one you will take home for dinner. Obviously the argument could be held that a moose feeds more people then a basket of blueberries, but the point is that the berries were much easier to find and harvest.

Dangerous Lookalikes:

    As previously stated, several plants are dangerous to consume. What is more dangerous is the fact that several look like very safe to eat plants. Some call these “Good Twin” and “Evil Twin” plants. If Cattail (Typha) is the good twin, with all of its’ useful and edible values, then Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) would have to be the evil twin, due to iridin and glycoside toxins in it . Such toxins would quickly leave the consumer in severe pain. As evidence; a case of confusion between Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus) and Blue flag lead to several poisonings of First Nations pow wow singers, who use the root of Sweet Flag to soothe their throats after long periods of singing.

Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) has often been confused with Sarsaparilla (Smilax regelii) due to similarly shaped leaves (though Sarsaparilla usually has five leaves, unlike Poison ivy which has three). While Wild rhubarb (Rumex hymenosepalus) has been often confused with Greater Burdock (Arctium lappa) due to similar growing habitats and leaves. What causes even greater confusion is many people referring to the greater burdock as “wild rhubarb”, which it is not even related to.

The only means of lessening the dangers of such misidentifications is to thoroughly learn the differences. Wild plant classes are better than books or videos, because the instructor/teacher can answer questions the student may have. As well, hands on practice beats words written by another person any day of the week when it comes to memory retention.  

What lies beneath:

    Not all of the readers of this article reside in wild or rural regions. Most likely a good many will be from urban environments like Toronto or Buffalo. Due to this, any wild plant harvesting may only happen in town parks or when weeding the garden of dandelions (Taraxacum) and plantain (Plantago major). In the past few years, many types of pesticides and herbicides have been banned. One reason is due to the toxic chemicals found in them, such as DDT.
    However, such chemicals can reside in an area for years, sometimes decades. Many urban plant gatherers will not harvest from an area that has been sprayed in the past thirty years. When I was younger and not as wise, I once became extremely ill due to harvesting cattail roots from a ditch near a town park. All chemicals ever sprayed on the fields and flowers in the park eventually washed off and leached into the ditch. Cattails being a filter plant absorbed and stored the chemicals. I had a concentrated dose of chemicals that could have potentially killed me.
    So research the history of where you are harvesting, and avoid any wild plants near roads (no matter how temptingly large they may be). Petroleum by-products can contaminate a plant and not ever be known until when they are treating you in the hospital. This being said, research all wilderness areas that you may be harvesting from as well, seeing as how many mines exist in the north country, who knows how many plants may be contaminated.

Famine:

    Many people boast that they know plants so well that they could survive indefinitely on them. This may be true to an extent, but do such people ever take into consideration the fact that famine is not that unheard of in the wilds? Consider the early springs of 2008 and 2010 in Ontario. Both were very poor years for harvesting maple sap. 2008 was just too cold, and 2010 was too warm. Add the invasive species (insects, fungi, plants, etc) that may arrive and wipe out the native plants. Or a sudden frost, an early winter, a long summer drought, or simply the plants dying off in a certain area for untold of reasons, and suddenly the ability to thrive off of nothing but the wild plants becomes more difficult.
    Think logically and research. Study how the wild plants respond to different stresses. Understanding the climates and terrain each plant requires to survive will help in the near future as much as it will in the long run.

Moral Issues:

    The wild plants we love to harvest seem to be endless. So much that I know several people that proudly announce that they picked over twenty pounds of blueberries in a single weekend. I also notice many signs stating Wild Leeks (Allium ampeloprasum) for sale when driving through Central Ontario. Such harvesting can cause many issues.

Firstly is the fact that throughout history, the over-harvesting of any species has almost always lead to the demise and/or extinction of that species. Ask the beaver, and I’m sure they will argue that their pelts weren’t worth their almost complete destruction.

Secondly, many animals depend heavily on these plants, and taking more then we need at one time is dangerous for them. What may seem like a nice addition to a few meals to us is the only choice for survival to others.

Thirdly is the fact that what you eat now may not be there tomorrow. If we eat all the plants around our shelter, then what will we depend upon when after two weeks in the wilderness we are too weak to do more than crawl out of the debris hut?

Harvest conservatively, and only harvest large quantities when you have to, and can guarantee preserving whatever you harvest. Leave at least one out of five things that you harvest. That means if you find thirty leeks, leave at least six leeks. If you could harvest five hundred blueberries, leave one hundred still on the stem. This means the animals, the plants and you have a chance to survive another year. This is contradicted however when in regards to Wild Rice, which harvested in a traditional manner is beneficial to the propogation of the species

Conclusion:

    There are many reasons to be full of caution now when gathering plants. However, this article was not written to scare the reader away from harvesting Nature’s bounty! Wild plants are rated by many nutritionists as being better for you than farmed fruits and vegetables. It is also a great way to enjoy the wilderness, or even your own backyard of “weeds”. But the better you know the plants around you, the better off you will be. Always try to use three of more different references when identifying plants, and if possible, contact local nature clubs to see if they know any people nearby that would be offering plant walks. Such an education can increase the safety and therefore enjoyment of any plant gathering. A list of respected Botanists and plant experts (Arthur Haines and Susan Weed come to mind), along with their books and/or videos will be posted next spring when we get back into the season of plant growth.

The Ojibway Bird Snare: A History of a major food source for the Ojibway People, and how to make one.

I have seen videos covering every imaginable primitive trap. From bow traps to simple peg-deadfall triggers. Some of these traps are ingenious and function beautifully in the Canadian woods, like snares and Sampson posts. Whereas others do not function as well, like a deadfall or spear trap.

Sadly many people do not study and research primitive traps, and simply regurgitate what was taught to them from a book or basic survival course. Usually from people who are also regurgitating the information. This makes it almost Dogmatic Law, which you don't want to argue; like deadfalls in Canada (out of ten years, I have had two deadfalls succeed at what about 100 snares have done just as well). That being said, some people don't look into the history of the traps. One perfect example is the Ojibway Bird Snare.

Maybe it's my Anishnaabe (Ojibway) blood, or maybe it's just my interest in primitive trapping, but I have become a little obsessed with this trap over the years. Using weighted snare (or a snare attached to a spring pole), the trap catches a bird alive, holding them firmly against a pole for you to retrieve. The set up is very simple, yet takes some detailed wood working to do.

The four pieces to this trap are;

-a pole with a hole bored into it. This hole must be smooth enough for a snare cord to go through without resistance. Kochanski's method of “cutting” a hole into wood rather than “drilling” is best. The very top of the pole should be pointed, to prevent birds landing there rather than on the trigger.

-A trigger stick. Long enough to afford a perch to a landing bird. It plugs the hole, keeping the snare from sliding shut until triggered. Upon weight being applied to the trigger, it releases, allowing the weight to pull the snare shut.

-A snare. This must be a cord. Snare wire is often too rigid to function properly, and often I have seen the wire snap in mid-action. Inner strands of parachute cord works very well. My favorite natural cordage for this trap is Dogbane. However any strong, flexible cord will do the job. In the photos, I am using Basswood (Tilia) bark twine.

-A weight mechanism. This can be a bent sapling, or better yet, a rock tied directly to the snare via a Killick Hitch. This -when triggered- will yank the snare shut around the feet of the perching bird. The rock method is superior, because it can't freeze into position as easily as a bent sapling. This means in cold weather, the rock-weighted Ojibway Bird Snare can be often used with more effectiveness.

This is requires quite a lot of carving, and experimentation to get just right. However once set up, the system is easy to maintain, and requires little to no actual adjustments.

Put together, the trap looks like this;

And a closeup of the trigger system with the snare;



Note the sharpened tip to the pole, to prevent landing on top.

I like to add a snare toggle to my snare cords, this can be seen better in this photo;

The snare toggle helps prevent the cord from flying out of the trap when triggered. This means the bird won't as likely have its' legs broken when captured. More humane, the more I like the trap. As well, it also strengthens the cord, and if a simple overhand knot is used on the loose end of the cord, the snare toggle makes it simple to make a snare without needing a bowline, or other fancy knots. This means in cold weather I can easily set these up.

The basic trap set up is fairly simple, however it does take some practice to set the trigger into the post snuggly enough to secure the snare cord in place. Often the rock weight wants to tug it shut even when the trigger is set properly. Some try to remedy this by adding a knot to the cord, to stop the sliding. Do not do this. This often causes the trap to not work right at all, often jamming up when triggered. Simply make the tapered end of the trigger stick as snug as possible, and push it in tightly. That's all you can do to make sure this trap works right.

Good baits for such a trap are;

-Berries

-Grains

-Breadstuffs

-Suet

-Birch buds (late winter)

-Tamarack needles (winter)

Now, let us watch this in action. My younger cousin offered to use his fingers as pigeon legs for our demonstration;

The trap is set;

The bird lands, its' weight causing the trigger stick to dislodge from the post;

The trap is sprung, and the legs of the bird are now firmly stuck against the post;

Sound simple right? Well it is. Now scatter bird feed like berries, grains and even suet around the ground below the trap, and set it in a sunny location.

Now, what is this trap made to catch? Obviously it goes for perching birds, and not ground birds. I doubt a grouse would get captured by this, unless I spooked the bird up onto the trap, as they are more often found on the ground, and usually only go up into the trees when roosting, or startled.

So it is meant for a perching bird. Well what kind of perching birds? Would the Ojibway really go through all of this trouble for a couple of grosbeaks and chickadees? Maybe a whiskeyjack, but some Ojibway considered that bird too sacred to kill (being the representation of Nanabush in certain stories. Plus the fact that the bird is a friendly visitor that could possibly lead winter starved people to a wolf kill).

Perhaps a little history lesson will help explain this trap and it's reason for existing...

The Anishnaube people (Ojibwa, Ojibwe, Ojibway, Chippewa, etc) lived from Minnesota, up into Ontario Canada for hundreds of years. During the early to mid 1700s, the native population of Southern Ontario (pre-Ojibway occupation) was mostly wiped out from devastating diseases like Small Pox and Tuberculosis. Those that survived, fled south and north, leaving the entire area alone for about 50 years or more. During this time a certain bird had a population boom happen, due to the lack of human predation on them and because of lack of competition for food (wild berries and grains). This bird was the one pictured below;



This is known as the Passenger Pigeon. Whose numbers rivaled that of the buffalo to the west. A single flock of them could be up to two billion birds. Because of their numbers, the Ojibway, who now entered a forest completely empty of people, had a simple and easy means of food with no competition.
The Passenger Pigeon would perch before landing on the ground to feed, much like rock pigeons and mourning doves do. This would allow the Ojibway an easy trapping of food to supply the people. This trap evolved specifically to harvest Passenger Pigeons, who were large birds (bigger than the rock pigeon we are all used to) and in greater numbers than any other food resource. There is a town near the Otonabee River called Omemee, translated to "Pigeon". In the Kawartha Lakes (North of the Otonabee River) is a lake called Pigeon Lake. Anybody else noticing a trend here?

However, upon the destruction of the Passenger Pigeon's population, this trap become next to obsolete and useless. Yes, it can occasionally trap a perched bird, but not as easily as it once had. Trap methods like the Arapuca Bird Trap, and the Grouse Snare have surpassed this ancient snare. However, in areas where pigeons and doves are in high population, this trap can still be used quite effectively.

An incomplete non-animal food list of the Ojibway People

This is an incomplete list of non-animal based food sources used amongst the Indigenous people known collectively as the Ojibway/Ojibwa/Ojibwe/Chippewa, or as we prefer to be called, Anishnaubeg. I have divded it into two sections; Plant, and Fungi. Though lichens are not exactly a fungi, I have included them in the Fungi section, as they are more related than plants.

This is incomplete, as my research has not lead to other plants definitively being use. As well, though there are many many more plants that could be listed as edible on this list (plantain, dandelion, etc), they were not native in pre-columban times. You may notice that the Fungi list is short. This is due to two reasons;

a) I do not have a strong experience with fungi. I learn what I can, but the list is short, because my experience is small.

b) many of the fungi in North America were used more for their medicinal and "magical" properties rather than their edible properties. For example, Miskwedo, a medicine used by our Midewiwin and other medicine people, has been identified as the Fly Agaric Mushroom (Amanita muscaria). This was a very potent medicine, used to receive visions (aka a Halucinogen). The Amanita family is full of very very deadly mushrooms, and should be studied with due caution.

I will include scientific names. Each of these food sources should be researched heavily prior to consuming, as certain ones are toxic unless prepared properly (such as acorns or Jack-in-the-Pulpit), or are toxic unless harvested in the right season (such as Mayapple). Though I do love the taste of mayapples, I cannot stress this enough: The fully ripe fruit is the only safe part. The unripe fruit was used by my ancestors to commit suicide. So be wary of all new food sources until studied fully. Anything with "*" beside it should be researched heavily prior to consumption.

Plant
*Acorns from Black, Red and White oaks (Nutmeat)
American chestnut (Nutmeat)
Arrowhead (Tuber)
Aspen (Cambium)
Beans (Fruit)
Bearberry (Fruit and leaves)
Birch (bark, cambium and sap)
Blackberry (fruit and leaves)
Blueberry (fruit and leaves)
Box elder (Cambium and sap)
Cactus, prickly-pear (pads)
Cattail (rhizomes, shoots, unripe seedhead, pollen)
Cherry, black (fruit) 
*Chokecherries (fruit)
*Cowparsnip
*Cowslip
Cranberry, highbush
Dropseed grasses (many varieties of Tallgrass prairie and Black oak savanna grass seeds have been found cooked and consumed, as well as the shoots)
*Elderberries (Ripe fruit)
Fern, Ostrich (fiddleheads)
Gooseberry (fruit)
Hawthorne (fruit becomes its' own preservant)
Hickory (nutmeat)
Horsemint (leaves)
*Jack-in-the-pulpit (tuber)
Juniper (fruit)
Labrador tea (leaves)
Lamb's quarters (leaves)
Leeks (Tubers, leaves and blossoms)
Lily, Trout and Wood (Tubers)
Lily, White water (Tubers)
Lily, Yellow Pond (Tubers)
*Locust (blossoms)
Maize (kernals)
Maple (Cambium and sap)
*Mayappe (Ripe fruit)
*Milkweed, common and swamp (shoots and pods)
Mint (Leaves)
Mulberry (Fruit)
Partridgeberry (Fruit)
Pumpkin (Fruit)
Raspberry, Purple-flowering, red common (Fruit)
*Solomon's seal, False (shoots)
*Solomon's seal, true (roots)
Strawberry, woods (fruit and leaves)
Strawberry-blite (whole plant, but especially the fruit-like flower)
Sunchoke, aka Jerusalum artichoke (tubers)
Squash (fruit)
Sweetgale (seeds/nutlet)
Sweet-fern (leaves)
Sweetflag (rhizome)
Thistle, Canada (inner stalk)
Wild Rice (seeds)
Yucca (flowers)

Fungi 
Chaga 
Morrels
Moss, Reindeer 
Old Man's Beard
Turkey-tail
Tripe, Rock
Puffball, Giant