Hilger on seeing fish being smoked

One daughter and her family lived in a wigwam...Toward the center of the grouping, under a long rack, fire was smouldering in two places, charcoal being in evidence in a third. The rack consisted of several stout 12-foot ironwood sapling, the ends of which either rested in crotches of two poles found at each end of the fireplace or were fastened to the poles with basswood fiber. The two end poles were firmly planted in the ground in the position of an X. All were held in position by being firmly tied together with basswood fiber. Pails and kettles used for cooking purposes were hanging from crotched sticks attached to the horizontal poles. Astride the poles with bellies up hung skinned fish, slit down the back, backbone and entrails removed. These were being dried and cured in the smoke of the smouldering fires. "It will take about 2 days to smoke these fish; after that we can pack them to take home. These belong to me," remarked the old woman, "but there's room on the rack for everybody. We all cook here, too."

from

Sister M. Inez Hilger, Chippewa Child Life and Its Cultural Background (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1992) 128.