Nuxalk fishermen catching ooligan in nets from spoon canoes, 1935

Making Ooligan Grease Each spring the small sea-going smelt return to the river to spawn. Native fishermen would catch thousands of them in nets from small spoon canoes. Nets were woven from hemp made of dried nettle. They would heap the ooligan in piles for a few days to break down the flesh and release the oil. The ooligan were then boiled and the grease skimmed off.

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