"A Most Abundant Weir": Fish Trap-Weirs, Adaptive Strategies, and the Hudson Bay Lowland KENNETH R. LISTER Royal Ontario Museum The long winter, although it is always cold, is not, however, equally so at all times. There are often, in truth, excessively cold days on which one does not venture out of doors without paying for it. ... If I had to choose between winter and summer in this country I do not know which I should prefer, for, in summer, besides the scorching heat, the frequent changes from extreme heat to extreme cold, and the rarity of three fine days on end, there are so many mosquitoes or black flies as to make it impossible to go out of doors without being covered and stung on all sides. Add that the woods are full of water and there is no going far into them without going up to the waist. (Father Gabriel Marest in Tyrrell 1931:126-127) These words written by Father Gabriel Marest, dated York Factory 1694, describe the relatively flat plain of poor drainage known as the Hudson Bay Lowland. Roughly following the western configuration of James and Hudson Bays, the Lowland — often referred to in fur trade records as the "low country"—is a wetland of bogs, fens, and tundra intermingled with forested banks of rivers and streams. Concomitant with Father Marest's description is the notion expressed by some historians and anthropologists that the region was largely devoid of a human presence during the pre-European period (Bishop 1972:66; Daw­ son 1983:55; Ray 1984:7-8; Ridley 1966:42; Rogers 1967:84; Wood et al 1976:41; Wright 1972:33). The assumption of a harsh environment and a perceived paucity of resources have influenced the view of the Lowland as be­ ing unattractive for occupation or, at best, its appeal was seasonal (Bishop 1984:31; Ray 1984:7). The pre-European adaptive strategy was altered, it is argued, with the establishment of trading posts on the Hudson and James Bay coasts: Native hunters were employed by the Hudson's Bay Company during spring and fall geese migrations and the need to take full advantage of this resource on the traders' behalf prolonged the Natives' annual stay 262 KENNETH R. LISTER 263 which influenced a change in the pre-contact adaptive strategy and led to the permanent occupation of the Lowland. A growing body of archaeological data from the Lowland area, specif­ ically Hawley Lake (Pollock and Noble 1975) and the Albany (Julig 1982, 1988), Severn, (Pilon 1987) and Shamattawa and North Washagami Rivers (Lister 1988), however, has dispelled the region's image as a pre-contact "de­ mographic vacuum". It can now be argued with conviction that evidence of a human presence in the Lowland reaches back at least as far of the second millennium B.C.1 thereby forcing a reassessment of the Lowland's long-term role in Native history. The nature of the adaptation in both pre- and post-European periods is far from understood. However, on the basis of archaeological data, his­ torical records, and Native advisor consultations a suggested model is one that represents adaptation as based upon a diversified economy with exten­ sive resource knowledge oriented toward pre-determined foraging strategies. Within the overall adaptive strategy an emphasis is placed upon fish. Significant for shedding light on the role offish is a reference in an 1815 Hudson's Bay Company Severn District Report written by James Swain, Master of Severn House, that proclaims fish and fish weirs as having sub­ stantial importance within the Native's economy and harvesting strategies: "By fishing and attending Fish Weirs a great portion of their Sustenance is . obtained" (HBCA B.198/e/l:8d). The value offish weirs is further de­ marcated on three maps accompanying the Report (HBCA G.l/33; G.l/34; G.l/35) for which the information was provided by Native advisors. A study of Map 1 — representing the eastern map (HBCA G./34) and that portion of the Severn District adjacent to Hudson and James Bays — reveals the locations of four fish weirs. Included are captions, such as "Excellent Fishg Weir" and "Plenty Fish During Summer" that document harvest produc­ tivity and seasonal use. A weir located immediately north of "Sas way mah tow wah Lake"2 is identified as an "Excellent Fishg Weir Sumr & Winter" and its significance is further described in Swain's District Report as "... a most Abundant Weir that produces Fish of various kinds almost the whole year March and April excepted" (HBCA 198/e/l:4d). :The Shamattawa Rapids site (GbIj-2), located on the Shamattawa River, is a multi-component site that includes materials attributed to the Shield Archaic. Two radiocarbon dates provide an average age of 3140 B.P. (1190 B.C.) which currently establishes this site as the earliest evidence of human occupation within the Lowland. 2 "Sas way mah tow wah Lake," currently known as Shamattawa Lake, is part of the Shamattawa River system that drains north into the Winisk River. 264 "A MOST ABUNDANT WEIR" nv ± Sx ^ ***^ Map 1 Map showing the eastern section of the Hudson Bay Lowland including the re­ gions of the Ekwan, Winisk. and Severn Rivers (G.l/34 Hudson's Bay Company Archives, Provincial Archives of Manitoba). KENNETH R. LISTER 265 Fish Trap- Weir Technology: Structure and Function In order to appreciate the economic value of fish weirs it is necessary to un­ derstand their structural composition and functional characteristics. There­ fore, the following discussion will present fish weir technology relating to the eastern Subarctic region west of Hudson and James Bays. This will provide the background for a concomitant discussion pertaining to the role of fish in the Lowland adaptive strategy(s). A fish weir is an obstruction that causes only a transitory disturbance to the natural flow of water, but serves to prevent the passage of fish (Oswalt 1976:120; Rostlund 1952:101). Although a weir constructed across a river obstructs the progress of fish up and/or down the river, it does not in itself impound fish. Therefore, a weir is often built in conjunction with a trap; in seeking passage around the weir fish are guided into a trap where further movement is restricted. A structure that includes both a weir and a trap is referred to in this paper as a trap-weir. Fish weirs and fish traps have a wide distribution within the North American continent (see Birket-Smith 1929:332-333; Rostlund 1952:169- 173). Additionally, archaeological evidence suggests that their use has con­ siderable antiquity. For instance, on the basis of four radiocarbon dates that averaged "slightly older than 2500 B.C.," Johnston and Cassavoy (1978:707- 708) attribute weir remnants found at Atherly Narrows, Lake Simcoe, to the Late Archaic period. In the western Subarctic region the use of fish weirs and traps are reported among a number of Native groups including the Carrier (Lamb 1957:248; MacKenzie 1971:320-321; Morice 1895:84-86), Ingalik (Osgood 1970:226-237), Tanaina (Osgood 1966:99-100), Upper Tanana (McKen- nan 1959:62), Han (Osgood 1971:68-69), and Chipewyan (Birket-Smith 1930:27). Within the eastern Subarctic recognition pertaining to the use of fish weirs and traps has been problematic. It is of interest to note that on Rostlund's (1952:292) fish weir and fish trap distribution map the use of such facilities among the Swampy Cree is labelled as unknown. In a similar vein, Skinner (1911) does not mention Eastern Cree use of weirs and traps and among the Northern Ojibwa he reports only the use of fish traps — not weirs (1911:137). Nevertheless, in the eastern Subarctic region fish weirs and traps have been documented among the Lake Winnipeg Saulteaux (Hind 1971:163, 490-491), Northern Ojibwa (Camsell 1912:93; Mclnnes 1912:134; Rogers 1967:84; Rogers and Black 1976:7-9), and Swampy Cree (Hanks 1980:79, 108; Honigmann 1956:37; Mason 1967:33). East of Hudson and James Bays the use of weirs and traps seem to have been less intense al­ though stone structures designed to control the movements of fish have been recorded among the Cree east of Rupert House (Clouston 1963:30) and 266 "A MOST ABUNDANT WEIR" among the Montagnais along the northern shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Le Jeune 1897:309). To the west of Hudson and James Bays among the Chipewyan, Lake Winnipeg Saulteaux, Northern Ojibwa, and Swampy Cree fish trap-weirs with two distinct forms of trap components have been recorded. Both types of trap-weirs include ramps or troughs upon which fish ascend. One type of ramp, however, extends above water level while the other type remains below water and includes an enclosure within which fish are impounded. Among the Chipewyan, Birket-Smith (1930:27) recorded a fish trap­ weir consisting of a weir that directed fish onto a ramp structure. One end of the ramp was bound to the river bottom while the opposite end reached above the surface of the water. Fish were scooped off the rctmp with a hand net. In 1858, Henry Hind (1971:163) recorded a "fishing weir" west of the Lake of the Woods and in the same year John Flemming (Hind 1971:491)­ a member of Hind's Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition- described a "basket" of the Lake Winnipeg Saulteaux that was located on the "Pike or Jack-Fish River". The nature of the components described by Flemming are comparable to the Chipewyan example: The one [trap-weir] by which we were fortunately enabled to procure a supply of fish at the Pike River consisted of a fence of poles, stretching from one side of the river to the other; they were sloping in the direction of the current, like the inside of a mill-dam, and allowed the water to pass through but not the fish.