I saw an example of the fish
trap at the Nez Perce Museum. Since I live near the Maple
Creek, I thought it would come in handy.
I collected
willow branches from the land around a dam. They were growing
straight and they were the size I needed. I soaked three of
the branches in water for a day so they would be pliable. I
proceeded to make three circles with them of different sizes for
the frame of the trap. I then tied eight inch willows to the
frame for the funnel. After the funnel was formed, I tied 3
feet willow sticks to the same frame for the fish trap. I
also tied those willows to a larger circle so it would hold its
shape of an oval. I only left small spaces between the
willows so the fish could not swim through the sticks. When
the twenty-five or so willows were formed around the circle, I tied
the end so the fish could not swim out. The excess willows
were cut off. When I was finished I took the fish trap down
to the Maple Creek and tried it out. The creek was almost dry
so it did not work.
From what I
have read about the fish traps, they are used in deep water.
According to my research, only Native Americans may use the fish
traps just as they have the right to hunt seals. Fish traps
are highly illegal for the other races to use.
I
interviewed Game Warden, Dan Roberts, about the fish traps.
He says he hasn’t had trouble with the traps for 50
years. Dan said they are highly illegal and I better not get
caught fishing with it. He said there is more illegal use of
shocking fish and then netting them. Somehow fishermen use
the old crank telephones as their weapon to shock the
fish.
My
resources were:
Please
click on the following slideshow for step-by-step
pictures:
Native American Fish Trap
