Description
The Chum Salmon: Oncorhunchus keta
Ranging from northern California to Northwest Alaska this salmon grows to a length of three feet. Their usual weight is a range of eight to eighteen pounds but they can grow to thirty. Different from other westcoast salmon because of it’s lack of black spots, though at times they can appear speckled. The Chum used to be known as the dog salmon and wasn’t very popular until other salmon stocks dwindled. Now over fishing is its greatest threat.
The Kunghit (a branch of the Haida) mortuary poles pictured in the body tell the life story of an important personage, usually a chief. They are from Ninstints, a village on the curve of a bay on St. Anthony Island in the Queen Charlotte that was wiped out by smallpox at the turn of the century, as we have wiped out
The Sage Grouse: Centrocercus urophasianus
Extinct in British Columbia they are still found in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, south to Eastern California, Nevada, Colorado, and South Dakota. Growing to the size of a small turkey, sagebrush is their main fall and winter diet. This plant also provides cover for them during the rest of the year. In spring, males gather to show off to the females in traditional display grounds called leks. Once mated, the females go off on their own to lay and raise the chicks.
