Day 7: Clyde River Day 2

Last night I was sitting in my host's front room and we started talking about the native Inuit people of Clyde River. My host is not a native of this town but he has worked for the Law enforcement office here for a little over a year. The first thing we talked about was the hunting and fishing practices of the Inuit. Narwhal whales are one of their larger prey and one that can bring in money to the community as well as food. He has watched as the narwhals come in to the bay in the summer time(july-early september)and the town becomes electric with antipaction of the hunt. Each person becomes involved with the hunt. They grab their rifles and head to their boats. Those who don't have boats hunt from the shores. It doesn't matter who kills the whale it is who's spear is in the whale that keeps it from sinking to the bottom. The narwhal is very important to the people here because of it's large tooth that grows out of its mouth. This tooth is similar to the tusk of the walrus or the elephant. The tusk can sell for over 160 dollars a foot and can be over eight feet long. A very rare narwhal will have two tusks growing and it can sell for over 60,000 dollars (whole tusks).

This animal is not hunted just for its tusks but for its meat as well. Each person get a part of the whale because a single hunter can't use a whole whale and it is the tradition of the culture to share. Once the whale has been used by all who need the meat the rest will feed the dogs and bones will be used for carvings by local artists. This animal is only one of the animals that is hunted and used by the Inuit people of Clyde River and Baffin Island.

Until Tommrrow,

Dalen and Jeff