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IV. Canada
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Chapter 13: Mount Currie, British Columbia
Xit’olacw Community School
Teacher: Liz Barrett
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Student: Stanley A.
BARBECUED SALMON
Recipe
1. Firstly cut open the stomach of the fish.
2. Throw the guts back into the river.
3. You need to have 6 or 8 cedar sticks. Now we thread the fish onto the barbecue stick called qw/elten.
4. We use a piece of wire around the tail to keep the fish from slipping down the stick.
5. Now make a fire using hard wood - cedar is the best as it gives hot coals and a nice smelling smoke.
6. As the fish cooks you must turn it regularly.
7. The fat drips down into the flames.
8. You will know when it is cooked because you see the white blotches appear on the flesh. This is called taqsa7 (barbecue salmon)
Essay
A DAY IN MY LIFE AS A DIP NETTER - Fishing is an important part of my culture. When I go fishing I awake early - at around 4 am. Everything is ready to go. I have packed my pack sack the night before. I pack a garbage bag to put my fish in, a knife a rope and something to drink and eat. I dip at a special place called "ladders." To fish here one has to be invited by the tribe that owns the fishing rights to the spot. It is an excellent fishing spot but it can be dangerous and so we anchor ourselves with a rope and a peg that is hammered into the rock. If you slip and fall the rope will save you from being washed away. I don't use a rod and a hook to catch fish - I use a dip net. I have fished from a young age and my grandfather Oliver James taught me about fishing.
Salmon is a favourite food and we catch both the Sockeye and the Coho salmon. The Sockeye salmons' flesh is bright red and very beautiful. We eat all parts of the fish. The fish eggs (kuna7) are salted and are then used for soup or as bait. The head (xum'qa7) of the fish is used to make a delicious soup. The backbone is also dried and used to make stock and soup. We call this scwikwa7lh
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 Artwork by Josephine F. |
Student: Leon W.
WIND DRIED SALMON
Ingredients
Fresh sockeye salmon
Salt
Tools
Sharp knife
Outdoor rack to hang fish on.
Recipe
1. Clean the fish. Cut off the head of the fish but leave its tail on.
Remove all the fins.
2. Filet the fish in two - make sure that the tail remains attached.
3. Cut cross wise slices into the filet of fish.
4. Salt it - just enough to cover the fish. The salt keeps the bugs away and stops the fish from spoiling.
5. Hang to dry for 7 to 10 days depending on the weather. Pack it away in a dry dark place ready for the winter when no fish is around.
Essay
We do drying of salmon every summer. We all go to the Fraser river which runs through the fishing grounds of Lillooet. This is where I live. We make a camp down at the river and we stay there for a week or two. Usually the men catch the fish and the women prepare it for drying. It is a family time and we all work together to get the fish ready. At night I enjoy it when we get to sit around the campfire and share stories. My mother, Nadine Perkins taught me the technique of drying fish. This summer we will go again to the river as a family to enjoy the gifts of the Fraser river as generations before me have done.
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Student: Rosanna J.
MIK'ILAW'SCEN (Bannock)
Ingredients
6-cups flour
6-teaspoons baking powder
1/2-teaspoon salt
1-teaspoon sugar
2-eggs
2-tablespoons of oil
Recipe
1. Get a bowl
2. Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add eggs, oil into the dry ingredients.
4. Knead well.
5. Get a frying ready.
6. Heat oil in the pan.
7. Add bits of flattened dough and cook until brown
Serve hot with butter or jam.
Essay
We eat Mik'law'scen every day - it is a staple food of our people. My grandma, Anne Gabriel, gave this recipe to me. I enjoy this very much and will pass the recipe on to my children one day.
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Student: Nona L. and Carl A.
INDIAN TACO
Ingredients
Lettuce
Tomato
Cheese
Hamburger
Tomato sauce
Salt and Pepper
Recipe
Cook the hamburger in a pan. Make bannock.
Essay
This is one of my favourite meals I have it for lunch because my grad group at school makes it for lunches. We do this in home economics with Franky. The difference between the Mexican and Indian taco is that we use bannock to make our taco with.
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Student: Virginia S.
INDIAN ICE CREAM
Recipe
Soapberries (sh-HO-shome)
Sugar
The soapberries and the sugar are beaten together.
The berries foam up and so it is known as "Indian Ice cream"
Essay
I live in Mount Currie - this is about two hours North of Vancouver. It is a beautiful area with lakes and high mountains. Many berries grow here and in summer all the children go out and pick and eat berries. In the old days the elders made these soapberries into loaves which were dried and kept to make Indian ice cream. Today we have freezers so this is no longer done. One berry found in this area in July is the im-Haz or black huckleberry.
My favourite berry in Canada is the blueberry - they do not grow here so we buy these in a store. They taste good and I have made a pie from these berries.
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