The Use of Tui Chub As Food by Indians of the Western Great Basin
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Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 2-18 (1990). The Use of Tui Chub as Food by Indians of the Western Great Basin ANAN W. RAYMOND, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 NE 11th Ave., Portland, OR 97232. ELIZABETH SOBEL, US. Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box 1602, Klamath Falls, OR 97601. o',N the following pages we explore the Lahontan Basin. G. b. pectinifer is restricted harvesting and processing of tui chub by to the open water of large lakes while G. b. aboriginal people in the western Great Basin. obesa also swims streams and marshes. Existing archaeological, ethnographic, and Morphologically the two subspecies can be biological data identity the most common distinguished by the number of gill rakers and method of tui chub acquisition, processing, pharyngeal teeth (La Rivers 1962:410-421; and consumption. The data guide 12 exper Gialat and Vucinich 1983). iments where we document the effort required Tui chub reproduce rapidly. A Pyramid to harvest and initially process tui chub for Lake chub will produce as many as 68,900 food. We calculate the number of food eggs a year, with an average of 23,300 calories returned per hour of fishing and (Kimsey 1954; Sigler and Sigler 1987:169). processing effort. The experiments help rank Chub spawn over sandy bottoms or beds of tui chub relative to other food resources in vegetation in shallow water. All eggs do not the Great Basin (cf. Simms 1984). However, ripen at the same time, so multiple spawning we make no assertions about optimal foraging probably is common (Moyle 1976:169). The behavior of Great Basin aboriginal people. fish larvae hatch and begin feeding in less Rather, we simply demonstrate that tui chub than nine days. Rapid reproduction contribut are an abundant, easily harvested resource ed to a population explosion of tui chub in that provides high calories and protein with Carson Sink when it flooded from 1983 to relatively little effort. And the Indians of the 1987. An estimated 15 million tui chub swam western Great Basin took advantage of this. the 200,000-acre lake in 1987 (Stillwater National Wildlife Management Area 1988). BIOLOGY The Sink was dry in 1982 and 1988. The tui chub (Gila hicolor) is a minnow Increasing springtime water temperature (Fig. 1) that inhabits the Great Basin (60 ° -65 ° F.) triggers spawning, schooling, and drainages of California, Oregon, and Nevada. movement to shallow waters. Depending on In the Lahontan Basin the fish has adapted to the body of water, spawning occurs as early as many environments: from the cold, clear late April or as late as early August. The waters of Lake Tahoe to the alkaline waters springtime reappearance of tui chub in lakes of Pyramid Lake. The fish swims the is sudden and spectacular. At Pyramid Lake: Truckee, Carson, Walker, Quinn, and Hum On May 20 the weather suddenly settled and boldt rivers as well as the ponds and sloughs became warm. About 2 o'clock the follow of Stillwater Marsh (Fig. 2). The adaptability ing morning there was heard a vigorous lapping of the water, which in the quiet air appeared of tui chub has produced several subspecies. entirely without cause until it was found to G. b. obesa and G. b. pecdnifer are the two accompany the leaping of vast numbers of most commonly recognized morphs in the fishes. Far out and up and down the shores the THE USE OF TUI CHUB AS FOOD ~ %.lC«£1K£^K'fSK;l e^SyKaK''^- Fig. 1. Tui chub, Gila bicolor. 10.0 cm. and 9.0 cm. in length. surface of the water fairly boiled. Spring had mean a bountiful chub supply as it did in come, and with it, in the dim light of early Carson Sink in the mid-1980s. Tui chub form morning, myriads of fishes from the depths of the lake. Daylight revealed them [tui chub] large schools, some (in Pyramid and Walker everywhere, along the shore, among the Lake) over 100 yards across. Although cold boulders, and in the algae, hovering in temperatures and large waves will drive some enormous schools over the bars and moving chub to deeper water, younger, smaller chub about in the clear water of the sheltered bays [Snyder 1917:66-67]. prefer to school in shallow water close to shore. Thus large schools can be found easily Growth is rapid during the first summer from late spring to mid-autumn. Lacking of life, the chubs reaching 22-42 mm. in direct observation, the Indians could have length. By the end of their second summer located them by monitoring the behavior of the chubs are typically 37-98 mm. long. In fish-eating birds. We have watched American subsequent summers they add 20-50 mm. de white pelicans herd schools of tui chub across pending on the body of water. Old age is shoals and into bays where they scoop up and reached at seven years. The length of a devour the minnows (see also Knopf and mature adult is 20-25 cm. with 30-40 cm. Kennedy 1980). Tui chub schools in shallow lengths found in large lakes (Moyle 1976:167). water are easy prey for people, armed with The nature and behavior of tui chubs mass-harvesting equipment such as giU or dip make them easy to capture. The filling of a nets, and working from shore or in light-duty formerly dry playa for even a few years could (tule) boats. 4 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY Winnemucca Lake (dry Humboldt Sink ,„/ Stillwater ^ji/, — Marsh •--..I// .11, -=- X Hidden Cave Lake Tahoe N Fig. 2. Major habitats and archaeological sites with tui chub. THE USE OF TUI CHUB AS FOOD Modern fishery biologists describe tui see also Curtis 1926:75; Stewart 1941:370- chub as "sweet and palatable" (Snyder 371). Gill nets and dip nets select fish differ 1917:62), although bony. The postcranial ently. Gill nets entrap fish within a narrow skeletal structure pervades much of the meat. size range. Tui chub too smaU to be caught Tui chub do not yield bone-free fiUets like the by their gills swim through a gill net. Large familiar trout (K. Johnson, personal com chub simply back out of the net before getting munication 1990). caught. On the other hand, a dip net will harvest fish in a variety of sizes. All fish with THE ETHNOGRAPHIC RECORD a diameter larger than the net mesh will be The Northern Paiute fished for tui chub scooped into a dip net. in many ways, including baited set and trot Shallow areas of lakes, ponds, and sloughs lines, basket traps, and weirs. However, dip which accommodate spawning or schooling tui nets and gUl nets (Table 1) were the primary chub are best exploited with fish nets. Suc tools (Fowler and Bath 1981; Fowler 1989:30- cessful use of a dip net requires strength, skill, 34). Northern Paiute gill nets were about 20- and active participation by the person fishing. 25 m. long and a meter deep. Tule floats, A gill net, in contrast, is a passive fishing tool. willow sticks, and stone weights suspended the Once an appropriate place has been identi nets, unattended, in shallow water. A fine- fied, almost anybody can deploy, monitor, and gauge twine rendered the net relatively harvest a gill net. However, ethnographic invisible under water. Mesh size ranged from reports of fishing cliques and joint net owner 1 to 4 cm. square. ship indicate that the technology and sociology "In their tule boats" the Toedokado of behind gill-net fishing is not a casual affair Stillwater Marsh "fished with their nets . (Speth 1969:234). Likewise, the manufacture, for the very tiny fish [tui chub], like the maintenance, and repair of a gill net com sardines; there were so many of them" (Stone mand considerable time and a skilled hand. 1987-1988:42-44). But gUl nets are easy to use. The person Willard Park reported (Fowler 1989:33) fishing simply sets the net and retrieves the that among the Walker River Paiute: fish or net several hours later. The same [Gill] nets were used more than anything else location can be harvested for weeks (Speth to catch fish in the [Walker] lake. The nets are 1969:234). During the height of spring activity 25 yards long, 4-5 feet high. A net was owned a gill net will become saturated with tui chub by one man. Sticks were put in the bottom of the lake in shallow water near shore. The net in a few hours. At other times, the net must was placed on these stakes. It was left all set for 24 hours to intercept the daily night. The fish were taken out of the nets each schedule of the chub. But the person fishing morning and evening. must harvest the net on a regular basis. Dip nets approximate rectangles in shape, Leaving an unharvested net in the water for usually 3-4 m. by 3-6 m. The net is attached days wUl not increase the catch. Some chub to two long poles. The fisherman stands eventually wiggle free of the gill net. And tui above a muddy stream or lake and scoops fish chub schools and individuals will avoid a gUl out of the water as they swim by. In historic net containing numerous struggling fish (M. times the Stillwater Paiute used a dip net to Sevon, personal communication 1989). harvest chub from a canal (Fowler MS). The Toedokado ate small, whole, fresh tui Mesh size ranges between 1 and 7 cm.