Acknowledgments

It has taken a lot of energy and enthusiasm on the part of a great many people in libraries, archives, museums, universities and research institutes, and in Indian Band Councils and government departments, to make this book possible.

To the many people, unnamed here, who gave of their time and knowledge to enrich the pages of this book, my deepest thanks.

In particular, I would like to thank Paul Bragstad, Dr. Erna Gunther, Anthony Pomoroy, Patricia Severs, and Dr. Michael Kew of U.B.C. for the valuable contributions drawn from their own special studies; Dr. Wayne Suttles, Portland State University and Dr. Nancy Turner, B.C. Provincial Museum, for their information on nettle fibre and other plant uses in fishing technology; Don McQuarry at the Pacific Environment Institute, West Vancouver, for his patient co-operation in my fishing experiments; Dorothy Kennedy and Randy Bouchard of the B.C. Indian Language Project, Victoria, BC for permission to use material from their unpublished manuscript¹ “Utilization of Fishes, Beach Foods and Marine Animals by the Tl’uhus Indian People of British Columbia,” also Simon Birch for permission to quote from Sir Arthur Birch’s letter.

For special research assistance I would like to thank Bill Holm, curator of the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, Seattle; Ron Weber of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; and U. Vincent Wilcox, curator of the Museum of the American Indian Research Annex. Their help and personal interest have been a great asset.

My thanks to Tricia and Nick Gessler at the Haida Museum, Masset, the Masset Band Council and Frieda Unsworth of Port Clements for various kinds of support during my research on the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Thanks also to Augustus Wilson, who at the Yakoun River fish camp readily shared his knowledge, his boat and his salalberry jam with me; and to Robert Davidson, encamped at the river with his family, for letting me invade his privacy with my camera.

To Chief Charles Jones of the Pachenaht Band, Port Renfrew, special thanks for sharing with me the wealth of his knowledge and the richness of his wisdom.

I am very much indebted to Dr. Charles E. Borden, professor emeritus, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, U.B.C., for the time he has generously given to conscientiously checking this work and for suggested revisions. His kindness and continued friendship remain invaluable to me.

My warm thanks and appreciation go to Bill Ellis of Canadian Native Prints, Vancouver, BC, whose close, personal interest and constant support on many levels during my work on this book have meant a great deal to me. In addition, the use of early engravings from his extensive collection of original antique prints has enhanced the illustrations for this work.

Museums in Canada and the United States have been the main source for most of the visual material in this book. I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to go through the collections in order to photograph and make drawings of the many items of fishing gear, and permission to reproduce them.

I extend my thanks to the Directors, Curators and staff of the following museums: The National Museum of Man, Ottawa, ON; British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria, BC; Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Centennial Museum, Vancouver, BC; Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC; Hastings Mill Museum, Vancouver, BC; Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, Seattle, WA; Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, WA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC; American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY; Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY and the Alaska State Museum, Juneau, AK.

Over the years I have been greatly appreciative of the valuable help of the late Wilson Duff, formerly professor of Anthropology, U.B.C. Internationally renowned in the field of Northwest Coast art and other native studies, he gave significant help and guidance in many areas of this work.

For the interest and encouragement Wilson Duff gave to the various facets of my work, for the contributions of his time and knowledge, I can only remain deeply indebted.

Other credits

This book was originally produced with Canada Council assistance to the author.

The motif accompanying chapter titles is the dog salmon design federally commissioned from Haida artist Bill Reid for the 1974 International Law of the Sea conference presentation portfolio. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of the artist.

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1. This book has since been published