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November, December, January, February:

Everyone was cooped up in the village. This was the season for merry-making, games, story-telling, conversation, etc. People who wanted to make new tools or weapons might have put the materials aside in summer to have something to do in winter.

March:

Spawning season. Most of the Natives (except the young, sick, old, etc.) left the village and broke up into smaller fishing camps (perhaps 100-200 people). Fishing consisted primarily of netting the fish. Traps might also be constructed, by driving poles into the muddy bottom of a stream to create an enclosure with only a narrow entrance. Two rows of poles in a "v" shape, funneled fish swimming upstream to the entrance of the enclosure. Once inside, they were later collected.

Another fishing technique involved boys with "scare lines" - a cord with a weight on the end - forming a long line along one bank of the stream and then wading and swimming across the stream. The scare lines, dragged on the bottom beneath them, herded the fish into the shallows where they could be collected in baskets by waiting women. Considering the water temperature that far north in March, it is likely this technique much more popular with the boys in August than it was in March!

Everyone gorged themselves on fish at the fishing camp. Besides the actual work of fishing, thousands of fish had to be cleaned, then smoked. Wood had to be gathered for the smoking. Periodically, small groups of people would leave the fishing camps with baskets of smoked fish, walkback to the village (20 miles or so carrying 40-50 pounds...the people were used to physical exertion), spend the night at home, then come back to the fishing area. When the fishing camp broke up around the first of April, almost everyone might have to make several round trips to take all the smoked fish home. Judging from archeological finds, fish may have been as important to their diet as venison.

April, May, June, July, August, September:

The need to plant and tend the crops kept the women and girls close to home. Men and boys brought in a trickle of fresh fish or fresh meat from short (1 to several days) hunting and fishing expeditions. This was also the season for commerce with other tribes with which the Mohawks were at peace and for war with everybody else.

Hunting was in small groups, stalking deer, rabbit, squirrel or other small game. Occasionally, men went after moose or bear. Fishing involved hook and line (when just a few fish were needed for supper, they didn't need mass production using a trap) or else was done by wading into the river and spearing the fish (which required considerable skill and an ability to hold still for quite a while).

October:

Deer are fat and their fur is best before winter. This was the main hunting season. Most of the population left the main village to go to temporary hunting camps. Deer were herded toward waiting archers by lines of women and children beating the brush with sticks. This was done once every day or two, with the rest of the time devoted to gathering wood, dressing and smoking the meat. By about November 1, everyone was back in the village before the real cold weather set in.

The Mohawk and other Indian peoples had fished for Atlantic Salmon for centuries. Within one century, whites virtually obliterated the species and its numbers have never returned.