Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2005, Page 64

62 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER (GAVIA IMMER) IN CIRCUMPOLAR FOLK ORNITHOLOGY
confirm that the great northern diver has
been seen as a weather prophet (bí3 3828,
PP 3836, PP 3915, PP 5338, PP 8016).
“If you could hear the great northern diver
a lot in the evening, it meant good and dry
weather ahead”, states a female informant
from Árnessýsla in southern Iceland (PP
3826). A man from Skagafjorður in north-
ern Iceland says: “When the great northern
diver flew high above, with much laughter,
it meant cold and wet days ahead; it never
fails” (Pb 3904). Also from Norway there
is evidence that the coastal dwellers saw
it as a weather prophet (Storaker, 1928:
225).
If the Faroese fishermen heard havgás
in the mornings on their way for fishing,
they used to say “it will be good weather,
imbrimilin call this morning” (FO, 1998:
58).
Use of its meat
Some North American Indians, such as
the Cree Indian tribe of Canada, utilize its
meat as food. According to George Suck-
ley in 1860, it was hunted by the Indians
in Washington state: “In winter they are
quite fat and are much sought after by
the Indians, who are very fond of eating
them” (quoted in Richardson et al., 2000:
8). Alaskan Inuit usually give the meat to
dogs, although old people sometimes have
used it as food (Nelson, 1969: 163). It has
traditionally been hunted and used among
the Greenlanders (Fabricius, 1929: 140).
Bone remains from archaeological sites on
the coasts of Greenland indicate that the
species has been exploited as food since
ancient times (Gotfredsen, 1997). The
meat has also been utilized by the Iceland-
ers (Bernstrom, 1965: 689). Its eggs are
almost inedible, but the bird itself can be
eaten, according to 17lh century author Jón
Guðmundsson (Hermannsson, 1924: 20).
An ornithologist in the 20th century states
that “the meat isn’t good” (Sæmundsson,
1936: 671).
It is supposed to be difficult to shoot,
according to information from P. F. Pe-
tersen on Nólsoy at the end of the 19th
century (Andersen,1898: 234). Although
it has been object for mischievous hunting,
according to a couple of authors, by Faroe
Islanders, it has never been used for any
purposes on the islands (Dánjalsson, 1951:
58; Johannesen, 1983: 143). However, ac-
cording to H. C. Miiller, the meat is re-
garded as delicious (Muller, 1862: 35).
Also a Faroese informant, Alfred Olsen in
Vestmanna, has in December 2004 con-
firmed that the elderly generation, i.e. in
the early 20th century, used to shoot this
species for the meat, if they encountered
it at sea. According to Leem the fat and
meat is unpleasant (Leem, 1767: 269).
Diver skin
The use of diver skin for making cloth,
caps, bags and other items are well-known
from the circumpolar area. The utilization
of diver skin is mentioned from the Sami
area already by Olaus Magnus in 1555
and it has been used until today (Kili-
atis, 1990: 229). Also the peasantry of
northern Sweden has mađe use of diver
skin (Hammarin, 1987: 16; 1990: 49-50;
Steensland, 2000: 81). So did the Sami
people (Fellman, 1906: 81). In his trav-