Finding eulachon: The use and cultural importance of Thaleichthys pacificus on the northern Northwest Coast of North America

Abstract

This paper examines the pre-contact history of the eulachon fishery on the northern Northwest Coast of North America through multiple lines of evidence: zooarchaeological, ethnographic, and oral historical. The eulachon fishery and eulachon oil production was central to Northern Tsimshian socio-political relations, systems of ownership, and trade during the contact-and-post-contact period in the region. We bring together the results of an analysis of 15 fine-screened faunal assemblages collected from village sites in Prince Rupert Harbour and compare these with published northern coast village and camp fine-screened faunal assemblages. Our results show that eulachon and other smelt taxa are present in these assemblages, suggesting a deep history to the eulachon fishery. We suggest also that the paucity of eulachon remains at some sites could be explained by eulachon oil production and consider what lines of evidence are needed to explore the limitations of zooarchaeological data and the history of eulachon oil production in the future.