Our country has always been rich in wildlife. There is still a wide variety of animals to be found throughout our land. Mammals were (and are) the preferred animals for food.

It was usually the work of men and older boys to hunt for larger game. Women could go along and hunt if they wanted to. However, women usually were busy with their children, sewing, cooking, etc. Women and children snared small game, such as rabbits and grouse.

The following are those most commonly hunted for food.

Caribou was the most popular large animal in early times. It was the easiest large animal to hunt because caribou migrated through the same areas twice a year. We knew where the animals would be at these times and that they would travel in groups. So we used to build fences to herd the caribou so that our hunters could shoot them easily. Moose was another main source of meat in our diet. Before we had guns, moose were very difficult to kill. The older people tell us that for a long time there were very few moose in our country. It was as if they had all left our country. But now they are plentiful again. Moose has remained a main food in our diet, even today. In the past, tanned moosehide was widely used for making clothing. Today home-tanned moosehide is treasured, since very few people tan nowadays.

The moose is still a coveted animal

Mountain Sheep and Goats were also important meats in our food supply. They were difficult to hunt because they lived in the high, rocky crags of the mountains. They moved up and down the mountainside grazing on alpine vegetation. These animals were (and are still) a source of meat. They have been hunted by big game hunters who come from far and wide to hunt them for trophies.

Older Tahltans tell of how goats were hunted long ago, when we still used bows, arrows, and spears to hunt. Our men used to watch the animals to see where they liked to eat during the different seasons. They watched to see which trail the animals used the most. And they watched to see if there was any pattern to the way the animals traveled.

In the mountains above Glenora, there was a certain spot that the goats liked to use when they moved up and down the mountain. They went up and down the mountain along a certain route. In their travels, at one spot they came over the ridge and through large boulders.

Our men would observe their movements so that they could tell when the goats would be coming up the ridge past the boulders. When they knew that the goats would be coming, they ran and hid behind the boulders.

The goats came up and over the ridge single-file. As they passed the boulders, the men would dart out and thrust their spears through the goat's ribs. They moved quickly and their spear must hit accurately or the goat would turn its own spears on the man. The spearhead had to be held so that it would slide through the ribs. If it was held flat, then the spearhead would hit the ribs, rather than pierce them.

Goats were prized by our ancestors. The meat was delicious, but goat hair had many uses. (See Technology for more.)

Deer: There were (and are) few deer in Tahltan country. Our older men can remember when they killed their first deer. They remember, not because it was so special, but because deer were so rare. Tanned deer hide is very soft and velvety.

Bears were a regular part of our diet. Nowadays we do not rely on this meat very often. Bear fat was highly-prized in past times. Our traditional diet had very little fat or carbohydrates, so fat was an important energy-food. The flavour of bear meat was affected by the food it was eating. For example, sometimes grizzly meat smelled strong and tasted like rotten fish. You can surely guess what had been eaten by this bear! The meat of Grizzlies were not usually eaten by people of the Wolf clan. The grizzly is a totem of this clan.

Rabbits were easy to catch with snares. Women and children set snares to catch these animals throughout the whole year.

Marmots live in the alpine and subalpine meadows. They like to live among rocks so that they could hide in case of danger. They eat vegetation and live in burrows. This is one animal which hibernates during the winter. It was hunted when it was fattest, at the end of summer. Its warm fur skin was used for clothing and for bedding.

Gophers were another animal that was hunted for food. It was plentiful on the Stikine Plateau. They also are a burrowing animal which hibernates. This fat little animal was included on everyone's menu. Its warm fur skin was used for clothing and for bedding. h)Porcupine has delicious meat. It was, and still is, considered a delicacy. The meat is white, taking flavour of the plants it is eating. Our old people would have enjoyed eating porcupine which has been eating wheat.

Buffalo once roamed our country. They are now extinct. Our fathers and their fathers have told us about finding buffalo skulls on mountain tops in our land.

Carnivores

Carnivores are animals which eat flesh only. Only the lynx was eaten by our people. It has a white meat that is still considered a delicacy by many.

A variety of big birds were used as food. They were either snared or shot. Of course, in early times, a bow and arrow was used. Later, small bore guns, like the .22 was used. Slingshots were a favourite weapon for children when they were hunting birds.

Migratory Birds are those that nest to the north and migrate through our country every spring and fall. These birds are fatter when traveling north, because they have spent the summer eating. When they fly south, they are not as fat since they have spent the summer raising their young.

They have always been a source of food. In the past, any of these birds might be killed for food, nowadays there are some that are protected. They are protected from hunting because there are so few of them in existence today. We respect the law which protects those birds.

• Swans were harvested for food in days past, but now we do not hunt them.
  
• Ducks of all kinds are hunted for food.
  
• Geese of all kinds were and still are hunted.
  

Year-Round Birds

Grouse and ptarmigan spend the whole year in our country. These birds have traditionally been an important source of food. They are always here, and they are easy to hunt. Snares had been used in the past to catch the birds. When hunting them, one simple way to keep them from flying was to throw a cloth with white on it it the air. The birds think that it is a hawk, so they do not fly.

They feed on berries and leaves. In winter, they can be seen eating rosehips and other berries which have dried on the bushes.

• Grouse. There are 3 kinds of grouse in our area: blue grouse, spruce grouse (spruce hen), and ruffled grouse. All three have always been favourites. The blue grouse is the largest of the three.
  

• Ptarmigan were hunted by herding them into stands of grass in which snares had been set. When the ptarmigan have molted and cannot fly, women and children sing a ptarmigan song while beating the ground with a stick. In this way the birds are herded into the grass where they are caught by snares. The ptarmigan changes colour from summer to winter. In the summer they are a reddish-brown. In winter they are white, except for their black eyes.

Our traditional Tahltan diet was made up of low-fat meat with wild plants. In fact, our diet was very low in fat. It was so low that our people valued a "fat" animal. We have often heard that the best moose, for instance, is "a fat, dry cow" where the emphasis is on the word fat.

We used to render fat to make grease. Fat from different animals and from different parts of animals made various types of grease. For example, fat from around the kidneys of moose made a hard tallow. Bear fat made a softer grease that was widely used in food. Bear fat was also used as a hair oil. Bone grease is said to be "like butter" Ñ tasty and easy to spread.

Long ago, our people got grease by boiling fat or smashed bones (bone grease). When the grease rose to the surface of the water, the old people sang a chant as they skimmed it off. They believed that you get more of what you are working on if you sing a chant as you work.

Our older people today like to eat fat today, also. Fat was a regular part of meals when they were growing up. So, when they cut up animals, they leave the fat on the meat. They choose meat with fat on when they buy meat from the store. And they choose fat from wild animals whenever they could get it.

When non-natives came into our country, especially during the Cassiar Gold Rush in 1874, they saw the game. Non-natives were impressed with the size and variety of big game animals. This resulted in hunting for trophies. Our men were natural guides since they understood the ways of animals and where they could be found at different times of the year. The hunters took home the antlers and horns, our people used the meat. Our people do keep antlers and horns as trophies now. When a woman was asked what was the difference between native and non-native hunters, she said, "For non-native hunters, the moosehead is on the wall. For natives, the moosehead is in the oven!"

Caribou