VIII. Animals
A. Demonstrate the basic skill of identifying various animal tracks and sign and how it can be interpreted and used for leading one to food and supply source (tracking is the science of learning the terrain/ it is the consummate observation exercise)
B. Construct a 12 trap-line consisting of two types of triggers for birds and mammals
a. Hold fast
b. Deadfalls (Paiute deadfall construction and demonstration)
c. Enclosures (box, net, weir)
d. Twitch-ups
e. Strangle loops (snares)
C. Use an animal-predator call to attract game
D. Use scent to attract game to a kill site
E. Keep a natural history observation log
a. Tracks
b. Sounds and calls
c. Nests and homes
d. Trails
e. Runs
f. Sightings
g. Kills and caches
h. Beds
i. Scat
j. Markings
k. Lays
F. Participate in the slaughter of an animal or bird and use it for food where nothing can be wasted
F. Demonstrate proper technique for approaching a stream/ pond to fish, spear or set a weir
G. Discuss the survival ethic and laws related to hunting and fishing
H. Demonstrate use of insects, ants, etc. as a food source
I. Demonstrate use of reptiles and amphibians as a food source
J. Stalk and track an animal within bow range and show refined skill in your technique and awareness
K. Participate in various cooking and storage techniques used to prepare animal foods
a. Jerky
b. Sausage
c. Steam pit
d. Render lard
e. Hot stone cooking
f. Paunch/ hide boil
g. Stomach bread
h. Fish broil
i. Fridge/ store pit
j. Pemmican
k. Drying
l. Stone/ mud oven
L. Properly display the animal totem for your clan level
M. Fishing
a. Weirs
b. Traps, spears, angling, bait
c. Narcotics (i.e. mullein)
d. Ice fishing
e. Stream fishing
f. Pond and lake fishing
g. Ocean fishing and food animals
h. Gutting, skinning and scaling
i. Internal organ use
j. Birds and eggs- grouse
k. Reptiles and amphibians
l. Sighting log
Gutting a Fish
1. Set up a table outdoors. You won’t want to clean the scales off your kitchen counter tops, sink, and walls when you are done. Try to find a table high enough to work comfortably on and can be rinsed easily with a garden hose when you are finished.
2. Remove your fish from the cooler, bucket, or other container you brought it home in.
3. Hold the fish by the head, and scrape the scales with a dull knife, upside down spoon, or other suitable tool, from the tail toward the gills. You should see scales flying off if you are using adequate pressure. Keep the strokes of your “scaler” short and quick, and work carefully around fins, they can prick or puncture your skin.
4. Get all of the scales off around the pectoral and dorsal fins, and up to the throat, or edge of the fish’s gills.
5. Rinse the fish, and find an area on the table relatively free of loose scales.
6. Invert the fish, so he is belly up. Small pan fish can be held in one hand, while the knife work is done with the other. Large fish will be held on their back on the table.
7. Locate the fish’s anus, and cut this out in a “Vee” or notch shape. This is not absolutely necessary, but you have to ask if you want to eat “fish bum”.
8. Insert your knifepoint into the cut where the anus was located, and draw the knife toward the head, splitting the fish to the base of the gills.
9. Spread the abdominal cavity with your fingers, and drag the entrails out.
10. Rinse the cavity out with a good stream of water from a garden hose, and wash the skin while you are at it.
11. Remove the head if you like. Trout are often cooked with the “head on”, but pan fish heads are usually cut off behind the gills.