Dr. Rosita Worl, President of Sealaska Heritage Institute, holds up sea otter fur during a speech by Dr. Madonna Moss, professor of anthropological archaeology at the University of Oregon, on Tlingit relationships with sea otters and whether Tlingit people consumed sea otters as food in the past during a lecture at the Walter Soboleff Center on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Dr. Rosita Worl, President of Sealaska Heritage Institute, holds up sea otter fur during a speech by Dr. Madonna Moss, professor of anthropological archaeology at the University of Oregon, on Tlingit relationships with sea otters and whether Tlingit people consumed sea otters as food in the past during a lecture at the Walter Soboleff Center on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Fur or food? To answer modern-day sea otter question, Alaska Native org looks to the past

Simple question has complicated answer

cMadonna Moss set out to answer a simple question, and through in-depth research she came up with a complex answer.

The University of Oregon anthropology professor and curator of zooarchaeology for the Museum of Natural and Cultural History was asked by Sealaska Heritage Institute to determine whether Tlingit people historically harvested sea otters for food.

“I think they hunted sea otters primarily for pelts,” Moss said near the end of a lecture Friday at SHI’s Walter Soboleff Building. “I do not think they were a dietary staple.”

However, she said it would be inaccurate to say sea otters were never a food source.

“I think people were occasionally — not always, not every sea otter — cutting out the back straps of sea otters and eating them,” Moss said.

One of the reasons SHI, a nonprofit that supports and promotes Alaska Native arts and culture, funded Moss’ project was to help determine how Native people had traditionally harvested sea otters, said Chuch Smythe, Director of history and culture for SHI.

[Otter hunting makes earrings for Aleut artist]

Alaska Natives are allowed to harvest sea otters, which would otherwise be federally protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but Smythe said some feel the practice of harvesting otters for their fur — something that is done to provide materials for SHI skin sewing workshops — is wasteful.

Dr. Madonna Moss, professor of anthropological archaeology at the University of Oregon, speaks on Tlingit relationships with sea otters and whether Tlingit people consumed sea otters as food in the past during a lecture at the Walter Soboleff Center on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Dr. Madonna Moss, professor of anthropological archaeology at the University of Oregon, speaks on Tlingit relationships with sea otters and whether Tlingit people consumed sea otters as food in the past during a lecture at the Walter Soboleff Center on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

The act specifically states marine mammals may be taken “for purposes of creating and selling authentic Native articles of handicraft and clothing.”

However, Smythe said he’s also heard some say otters should be eaten in order for the Marine Mammal Protection Act exception to continue. Sometimes, Smythe said that opinion comes paired with the assumption that Natives traditionally ate sea otters.

However, Moss’ research arrived at the conclusion that sea otters were primarily harvested for their fur, not their meat.

That conclusion came after a lot of research.

One of the reasons extensive research was required is the 19th century Russian occupation of Alaska. A desire for otter fur led to over-hunting, and Moss said by 1830 sea otters in Southeast Alaska were largely extinct, Moss said.

Sea otters were reintroduced in the 1960s, and Moss said the population has now rebounded to an estimated 30,000 otters.

Dr. Madonna Moss, professor of anthropological archaeology at the University of Oregon, speaks on Tlingit relationships with sea otters and whether Tlingit people consumed sea otters as food in the past during a lecture at the Walter Soboleff Center on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Dr. Madonna Moss, professor of anthropological archaeology at the University of Oregon, speaks on Tlingit relationships with sea otters and whether Tlingit people consumed sea otters as food in the past during a lecture at the Walter Soboleff Center on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

While otters are common enough now that some Alaskans, including fishermen and state legislators consider them a nuisance, they had been essentially absent for more than a century. So for answers, Moss had to turn to the past.

Moss compared seal bones and sea otter bones initially excavated in the 1950s from a pair of pre-contact sites in Angoon. Since seal was definitely known to be a food source, if the ancient bones showed signs of similar wear, tear and cutting, it could be a sign that sea otter was also eaten.

“I saw some differences between how people were using sea otters and seals, but I wasn’t sure how to interpret it,” Moss said.

[Formline meets the red line at Douglas ice rink]

Some clarity was added when Moss was provided the carcass of a recently skinned sea otter.

Since Moss knew the animal was not dismembered and that it was used solely for its pelt, she was able to examine its bones for cut marks after the otter’s flesh was eaten by beetles.

She found cut marks where she did not expect to find them, which she inferred were caused by a need to create leverage to pry the sea otters’ pelt from its body.

Dr. Madonna Moss, professor of anthropological archaeology at the University of Oregon, speaks on Tlingit relationships with sea otters and whether Tlingit people consumed sea otters as food in the past during a lecture at the Walter Soboleff Center on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Dr. Madonna Moss, professor of anthropological archaeology at the University of Oregon, speaks on Tlingit relationships with sea otters and whether Tlingit people consumed sea otters as food in the past during a lecture at the Walter Soboleff Center on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Those cuts were comparable to what she saw on the ancient bones, but did not match up exactly, Moss said.

After speaking with Tlingit people about whether otter was known to be good eating, Moss came to the idea that the “back straps” of otters were likely easier to eat and tastier than other muscular and tough portions of the animal.

However, whether that meat was eaten by people because other food was less available or whether it was fed to dogs is less clear.

“That’s unknown,” Moss said.


• Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.


More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Dozens of people throw colors in the air and at each other during a Holi festival gathering Monday night outside Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Dozens toss caution and colored cornstarch to the wind in traditional Hindu celebration of spring

Most Read