Fishing through the Ice

A set of 27 photographs showing Cree fishermen catching fish for their families through the ice in the 1970s using the jigger system. -p01 to -p03: The fisherman clears the snow and cuts a hole with an ice chisel. -p04: A long plank called a jigger is used to pull the net along under the ice. -p05 to -p06: Pulling a string attached to a hooked trigger in the plank causes it to creep along under the ice. -p07: A second man follows the sound of the jigger moving along beneath the ice - usually the dogs are better at this than the fishermen! -p08 to -p09: He then cuts a hole, lifts out the jigger and unties a rope from it, and walks back pulling the rope to extend the net under the ice. -p10: When he gets back to the first hole he knows the net is fully set under the ice. -p11 to -p14: The next day the men return to check their catch, re-opening the hole and pulling out the net. -p15 to -p17: Out come the fish caught in the net. -p18: The fish have to be untangled from the net. -p19 to -p20: This is a good catch today. -p21 to -p22: Several different species are caught - here comes a lake trout. -p24: Here is a whitefish. -p25: A large northern pike, or jackfish as it is known locally. -p26: And a tullibee, a smaller relative of the whitefish. -p27: The fishermen gather the frozen fish into sacks to take home to their families.

Historical note:

Photographs showing Cree fishermen catching fish in winter, mostly taken by Charles Feaver in 1974 at the request of local teachers, including Lois Dalby, Arlene Christiansen, and the late Julie Nagy, who wanted culturally-relevant materials for their classrooms, with the others taken by Larry Hewitt for the Academic Education Branch of the Department of Northern Saskatchewan. Long-time fisherman Gordon Carle assisted with the following descriptions.
Author/Creator
Larry Hewitt (photographer)
Charles Feaver (photographer)
Open Access
Yes
Primary Source
Yes
Publication Date
1974
Credit
Northern Saskatchewan Archives, DNS Academic Education Branch, Binder #16 Cree Traditional Lifestyle/FishingThroughTheIce 1 - 27 (Shelf A3); records from Our Legacy site, http://scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy
Resource Type
Images -- Photographs
Format
Image
Language
Login or Register to create bookmarks.

Export Record

RIS
EndNote
CSV