Don Wiss wrote:
>>Bear flesh was eaten, but not often, because anyone who
>>consumed it was not allowed to eat any fresh fish for two months.
>
>Bear meat can have the thrichinae larvae in it. What was eaten if not fresh
>fish? Fermented fish? Maybe this kills the larvae.

It was believed that the fish would be offended, and not allow themselves to
be caught, if they were eaten fresh by someone who had recently sampled bear
meat.  I can only guess how this taboo originated.

I'm not certain what Jewitt meant by "fresh fish", because he stated that
the Nootka preferred fermented fish:

"They are always careful to examine these traps every day, in order, if a
bear be caught, to bring it immediately, for it is not a little singular
that these people will eat no kind of meat that is in the least tainted, or
not perfectly fresh, while, on the contrary, it is hardly possible for fish
to be in too putrid a state for them, and I have frequently known them, when
a whale has been driven ashore, bring pieces of it home with them in a state
of offensiveness insupportable to anything but a crow, and devour it with
high relish, considering it preferable to that which is fresh."

Perhaps fermented fish were preferred because the fermentation process
predigested the proteins.  I'm a little surprised by the popularity of
putrid fish among aboriginals, because the rancid polyunsaturated fats could
be a health hazard -- or so we're told.

The catching of a bear was always followed by a big celebration, but few
Nootka actually ate any of the meat because of the taboo. I suppose that
Nootka subject to the fresh fish taboo might have eaten dried fish.

>>*Everything*, including the berries, were smothered with generous
quantities
>>of fermented fish oil.  Bon appetit!
>
>Well, having no knowledge of learned nutrition, they let their taste buds
>and past health experience be their guide.

I'm not sure about the taste bud part, even though the Nootka had obviously
acquired a taste for fermented seafood (Europeans, on the other hand, found
it completely revolting), but I agree that they would have been sensitive to
the effect of food on their health.  I seem to recall the story of a
European who asked a group of African pygmies how they could tolerate the
stench of putrid Zebra meat.  Their reply?  "We eat the food, not the
taste."  (Reminds me of my relationship with sardines and herring.)
Instinctos probably wouldn't like this annecdote. ;-)

Cheers,
-- Aaron Wieland