Fish Traps of Heceta Island

According to Gillespie, “This evidence includes excavations at the Chuck Lake site on Heceta Island demonstrating the use of shellfish, marine fishes, and sea mammal hunting. This site produced microblade technology, dating to about 8,800 years ago (Gillispie, 2018, p.21). The Island had been occupied for a long time. It is reasonable to think a substantial amount of people lived there.

Over time, Tlingit developed an advanced way of capturing fish humanely and sustainably. That was through the use of fish traps. If you examine the photo above, you may notice rocks piled in the creek in a row. If an aerial image was available, you may notice a pattern that would divert the fish into pools making capture easier. Posts piled into the ground may have been used in deeper creeks or rivers. Here is an excellent video explaining how they were used.

Here is another great video using similar methods in Klawock.

References
Gillispie, T. (2018). An Overview of Alaskan’s Prehistoric Cultures. Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved from http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/oha/publications/oha173overviewofalaskaprehistory.pdf

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