Tradition of Eating Raw Herring

The Elders here for at least 50 years have had a tradition of eating a raw herring. The fish are considered a delicacy. They are cleaned out, de-boned and covered with chopped onions. Then the headless fish (3-4 inches long), still with its scales is lowered into the open, upturned mouth and eaten in a hurry. It seems to be a right of passage with the young Elders. Elder S. did this when younger, but is not quite ready to try it again yet. He prefers them pickled, although they leave quite an after-taste. Elder Berry has only been out about 2 months, but said he liked it, and asked if we could we get some more. Then we were reminded that he is from California and a sushi eater.