Description
Brown Trout: Salmo trutta
Native of Europe and West Asia this trout was introduced to North America around 1883. They now range Southern Canada southwest to California, northeast through the Great lakes south to Mississippi. They have been able to do well in the Pacific Northwest, able to tolerate higher water temperatures than other salmon and trout species. Brown trout are as hard to catch as the animal pictured in the lower trout.
Cougar or Mountain Lion: Felis concolour
Males grow to lengths of nine feet, (including a 30″ tail). These large mammals weigh as much as 180 pounds. Females are slightly smaller. They have five toes in front and four behind, which have long retractile claws. The more reddish fur pictured here, appears in summer months, dulling in the winter. Found throughout the second growth and mature forests of the Pacific Northwest, they have a preference for rocky and mountainous terrain. Indigenous peoples such as the woman depicted in the head of the upper trout never ventured far into the forests preferring to do their foraging on and along the waterways and beaches.
Coast Salish
These peoples inhabited the coast of the mainland from Bute Inlet to the Columbia River, and lands on Vancouver Island not occupied by the Kwakiutl or the Nootka, from Johnstone Strait to Port San Juan. These tribes didn’t carve totems but they did carve huge “greet” figures such as the one featured in the main body of the upper trout, which stood at the side of ocean and villages like giant sentinels. Arms were also often outstretched. Markings with different symbolic meanings covered them, as they stood vigilant looking out to sea.
