Grease trail
A grease trail is an overland trade route, part of a network of trails connecting the Pacific coast with the Interior in the Pacific Northwest.
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History [edit]
Trails were developed for trade between indigenous people, particularly the trade in eulachon oil (also spelled oolichan oil).[1] The grease from these small fish could be traded for furs, copper, and obsidian, among other things. The Stó:lō people of the Fraser River simply ate the fish, either fresh or smoked, but the people of the interior used the oil as a condiment (similar to butter) and in various other ways.
Origin of the name [edit]
"Grease Trail", Carrier /tl'inaɣeti/. The name comes from the fact that the most important item traded into the interior was the processed oil of the eulachon fish Thaleichthys pacificus. Indeed, the Carrier word /tl'inaɣe/ "eulachon oil" is a compound of Carrier /xe/ "grease, oil" (combining form /ɣe/) with /tl'ina/, a loan from Heiltsuk or Haisla, North Wakashan languages spoken on the coast.[2]
Grease trails and former grease trails [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Grease Trails". Living Landscapes. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
- ^ "Words from the West". Language Log. 2004-09-27. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
- Birchwater, Sage. Ulkatcho. Stories of the Grease Trail, Anahim Lake, Ulkatcho Indian Band 1993.
- Harrington, Lyn. (1953, March). Trail of the Candlefish. The Beaver Magazine Of The North. (pp. 40-44)
- Grease Trails, in: Turkel, William Joseph. The Archive of Place. Unearthing the Pasts of the Chilcotin Plateau, pp. 108-135.
External links [edit]
- Smelt, What's Cooking America?
- Fraser River Discovery Centre
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