On salmon rivers, when the fish begin to run up
the stream in spring, they are received with much deference by
tribes who, like the Indians of the Pacific Coast of North America,
subsist largely upon a fish diet. In British Columbia the Indians
used to go out to meet the first fish as they came up the river:
"They paid court to them, and would address them thus: 'You fish,
you fish; you are all chiefs, you are; you are all chiefs.'" Amongst
the Tlingit of Alaska the first halibut of the season is carefully
handled and addressed as a chief, and a festival is given in his
honour, after which the fishing goes on. In spring, when the winds
blow soft from the south and the salmon begin to run up the Klamath
river, the Karoks of California dance for salmon, to ensure a good
catch. One of the Indians, called the Kareya or God-man, retires to
the mountains and fasts for ten days. On his return the people flee,
while he goes to the river, takes the first salmon of the catch,
eats some of it, and with the rest kindles the sacred fire in the
sweating house.
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