HARVESTING THE OCEAN’S BOUNTY
By Alexa Johnson
Plenty of Fish in the Sea - The Tongva relied extensively on marine resources for food, much more so than their mainland counterparts. While some terrestrial animals were available, including squirrels, foxes, rodents, and quail, Catalina’s rich and diverse marine life provided the Native Americans with their primarily sustenance. Utilizing harpoons, spears, nets, hooks, lines and sinkers, the Tongva collected fish, shellfish and marine mammals and birds.
According to “A Brief Prehistory and History of Santa Catalina Island” by Ivan Strudwick, “C-shaped” hooks, fashioned from shells and bones, were used to fish the bottom of near-shore kelp beds for leopard sharks, bat rays, halibut, shovelnose guitarfish and bass among others. “J-shaped" hooks, better suited to catching fast fish, were used to catch pelagic migratory fish, such as swordfish, albacore and yellow and bluefin tuna. The metallic sheen of a hook made from abalone, mussel or Norris' topshell was often enough to lure one's prey, but at times, a piece of black mussel was used as bait.
Shellfish were harvested year-round. The Tongva gathered abalone, mussels, clams, oysters, limpets, eel and octopus from nearshore areas and rocky slopes
Cordage made from nettle, sea grass, milkweed or willow-fiber was used to construct nets of various sizes and functions. The First Angelinos by William McCawley lists four primary types of Tongva nets, which were used to trap everything from schools of fish, such as sardines, to large fish, like bonita, to birds and small mammals. A 1970s study done at Emerald Bay suggested that the Native Americans hunted larger marine mammals, such as dolphins and sea lions.
The most common kind of watercraft used by the Tongva was the ti’at, a plank canoe made from driftwood. Redwood and pine planks would be shaped using stone axes and drills and then sewn together with fiber string and sealed with tar. Ti’ats could hold anywhere from three to 20 passengers, including a young boy whose job it was to bail water. Smaller reed rafts are reported to have been used, most likely for short intra-island journeys.
Quid Pro Quo
By Alexa Johnson
Plenty of Fish in the Sea - The Tongva relied extensively on marine resources for food, much more so than their mainland counterparts. While some terrestrial animals were available, including squirrels, foxes, rodents, and quail, Catalina’s rich and diverse marine life provided the Native Americans with their primarily sustenance. Utilizing harpoons, spears, nets, hooks, lines and sinkers, the Tongva collected fish, shellfish and marine mammals and birds.
According to “A Brief Prehistory and History of Santa Catalina Island” by Ivan Strudwick, “C-shaped” hooks, fashioned from shells and bones, were used to fish the bottom of near-shore kelp beds for leopard sharks, bat rays, halibut, shovelnose guitarfish and bass among others. “J-shaped" hooks, better suited to catching fast fish, were used to catch pelagic migratory fish, such as swordfish, albacore and yellow and bluefin tuna. The metallic sheen of a hook made from abalone, mussel or Norris' topshell was often enough to lure one's prey, but at times, a piece of black mussel was used as bait.
Shellfish were harvested year-round. The Tongva gathered abalone, mussels, clams, oysters, limpets, eel and octopus from nearshore areas and rocky slopes
Cordage made from nettle, sea grass, milkweed or willow-fiber was used to construct nets of various sizes and functions. The First Angelinos by William McCawley lists four primary types of Tongva nets, which were used to trap everything from schools of fish, such as sardines, to large fish, like bonita, to birds and small mammals. A 1970s study done at Emerald Bay suggested that the Native Americans hunted larger marine mammals, such as dolphins and sea lions.
The most common kind of watercraft used by the Tongva was the ti’at, a plank canoe made from driftwood. Redwood and pine planks would be shaped using stone axes and drills and then sewn together with fiber string and sealed with tar. Ti’ats could hold anywhere from three to 20 passengers, including a young boy whose job it was to bail water. Smaller reed rafts are reported to have been used, most likely for short intra-island journeys.
Quid Pro Quo
