Workshop in Haines Junction teaches fish canning and connects generations

At a fish-canning workshop in Haines Junction, Yukon, Rita Burns removed jars of preserved fish from a pressure cooker.

The liquid inside was slightly brown from the smoke, she explained. The jars were still bubbling.

For Burns, the work is about more than just preparing food. It’s also about helping other people learn a skill she once picked up from elders.

She recalled once watching people do it at an elders camp and thinking, “I have to learn how to do this.”

Now, at a workshop organized by Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, she’s been showing participants how to preserve smoked trout and whitefish, hoping they’ll carry that knowledge into their own homes.

Pieces of smoked trout and whitefish are packed into glass jars during the canning workshop. The fish came from research work done at lakes within Champagne and Aishihik First Nations traditional territory. (Viktor Elias/CBC)

Burns says canning helps prevent fish from going to waste in the freezer, while giving families another source of food during the winter.

She says the cost of groceries makes those skills particularly valuable.

“You’re not gonna go to the store and be buying a $50 fish every time you wanna have fish,” she said. “You could just go to your cupboard and open up a jar of fish.”

The fish being processed comes from research work done at lakes within Champagne and Aishihik First Nations traditional territory. Burns says the workshop is using fish that would otherwise have remained in freezers – and likely been freezer burnt. 

She says the jars will be shared in the community, as an earlier batch was.

Learning from one another

For Jordan Cote-Germain, the workshop is a chance to learn the canning process firsthand.

Cote-Germain volunteered after hearing help was needed. He says the skill is familiar, even if the process is new. 

“My grandma used to do this,” he said.

Jordan Cote-Germain cuts smoked fish into smaller pieces during the workshop. He said it was his first time learning the process, although his grandmother used to can fish. (Viktor Elias/CBC)

Cote-Germain sees practical benefits, including saving money, and says learning how to preserve food could be useful after a future fishing trip.

“It’s definitely something that not everybody learns,” he said. “Might as well learn all I can.”

Another participant, Kwägąya, Azzy Allen, has helped can fish before, including for potlucks. But this was the first time Allen was learning the process from start to finish.

“It’ll be interesting to learn how to use the pressure cooker,” Allen said, adding that the experience was a little nerve-racking.

Allen says preserving fish also has cultural importance for Southern Tutchone people. Fish is served at potlatches and is part of giveaway ceremonies.

Kwägąya, Azzy Allen, prepares a jar during the workshop. Allen hopes to use the skills and create a Southern Tutchone lesson plan for children. (Viktor Elias/CBC)

“This is the kind of food that gets put out on the tables for people to eat,” Allen said.

Like Cote-Germain, Allen remembers older relatives practicing the skill – in Allen’s case, grandmothers and aunties.

Now Allen is considering ways to share what the workshop has taught.

“It would be cool to make a lesson plan for kids in Southern Tutchone, step-by-step with pictures,” Allen said.

The workshop also offered some less tangible benefits, Allen said.

“It’s good to get out of the house and stay busy and connect with others in your community,” she said.

Cote-Germain adds salt and vinegar to make a brine for the jars of fish. The rims of the jars are then wiped clean before they’re placed in a pressure cooker. (Viktor Elias/CBC)

For Burns, seeing younger people show up was encouraging.

“I think young people these days should learn, try to learn what they can,” she said.

“Because they could use it their whole life.”