Oolichan Moon by Samantha Beynon

Two sisters, Little Sister and Big Sister, loved visiting their grandmother and grandfather. They were respected Elders who lived according to the traditional ways of their people, Nisga'a. One thing they really loved was a tasty fish called oolichan.

When the sisters woke up they both wondered if this was the time of year the Nisga'a catch oolichan. They decided to go downstairs and ask grandmother (jiji). Grandmother told Little Sister that the oolichan are very important to the Nisga'a and that to some Elders they were known as the "saviour fish".  

They were considered the "saviour fish" because they were the first fresh fish of the new year.  After the long winter months their people sometimes ran short of the dried fish that helped them through the winter. In early spring, millions of oolichan filled the rivers.

Grandmother explains to the girls that there were many reasons why the oolichan were saviours to their people. The fish is rich in vitamins which helps keep people healthy.  They also are so rich in oil that they can be lit and used like a candle when they are dried. The oil is often administered to a person who is sick.

Even more important is that the oil is like liquid gold to the Nisga'a people. Grandmother tells Little Sister and Big Sister that the oolichan are boiled in large, watertight boxes called brentwood boxes. The oil was skimmed off and traded to other nations. And yes, Grandmother tells the sisters that this is the time of the oolichan moon! At the  door is Daada, their auntie with a bag of fresh oolichan!

Discussion

Oolichan Moon is about an amazing little fish, called oolichan by the Nisga'a, that has been central to their culture for generations. Known as Thaleichthys pacificus to biologists, this small, smelt-like fish spends most of its life in the ocean but returns to the freshwater streams and rivers where it was born, to spawn and die. The oolichan run usually happens in March.

As noted in this picture book, the oolichan was considered a saviour fish because it was the first fresh food of the spring, just as the First Nations peoples along the coast were running short of their winter stores. The fish were so plentiful that they could be caught using a net or an oolichan rake. Today, oolichan is considered an endangered species. 

Although the sisters in the story speak about loving to eat the tasty oolichan, the author in her note titled "Oolichan Grease" writes that most of the fish caught were used to extract the oil. Oolichan fat is more like olive oil than fish oil, with about fifty-five percent mono-unsaturated fats and a low polyunsaturated fat content. This type of oil content means the oil doesn't spoil as readily and is the reason the fish when dried can be lighted like a candle. Oolichan has also been an important medicine for the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest.

Young readers learn all about the oolichan through the interaction of two sisters, Little Sister and Big Sister with their beloved Jiji or Grandmother. Although Little Sister asks many questions and keeps interrupting, Grandmother is patient with her, happy that her young grandchildren want to know about their heritage and culture. Informing her grandchildren offers a vehicle for informing the reader too. Beynon not only highlights the importance of the oolichan in the Nisga'a culture but also demonstrates the importance of intergenerational relationships to Indigenous peoples.This relationship has been a way of passing on traditional knowledge to the younger generation.

Oolichan Moon is illustrated by Lucy Trimble who is from the Frog Clan. Trimble's richly coloured illustrations contain many elements of traditional Indigenous design and artwork. Author Samantha Beynon who is of Nisga'a, Ts'msyen and European heritage, has incorporated related Nisga'a vocabulary in her story and has included several separate pages at the back: Nisga'a Vocabulary, A Fish Central to Nisga'a Culture, Oolichan Grease and Oolichan Fishing.

Book Details:

Oolichan Moon by Samantha Beynon
Madeira Park, B.C. :  Harbour Publishing,   2022