Watt’s experience on his first hunt was typi-
cal in another way. The caribou a hunter shot was not destined solely for his family. The meat was shared with fellow communities, and those people shared the proceeds of their hunting trips as well. That culture of exchange and the communal, sto- rytelling meals that followed cemented communi- ties together. As the caribou grew scarce, sharing became more difficult, threatening those critical social ties. “What worries me is not being able to do what you’re doing,” said Shiwak. “If you’re not sharing, you’re not doing your culture justice.” The hunting ban also affected the physical health
of the Inuit. Caribou meat was a prime source of iron in their diet, and its loss has led to insufficient levels of the mineral among some Inuit, said Judy Voisey, an Inuit instructor who teaches cooking classes and is a provincial career advisor with the Women in Resource Development Corporation in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. She now teaches ways to prepare traditional foods such as partridge rice soup and smoked or baked stuffed arctic char and lingonberry, blueberry or redberry or bakeapple
jam to go with “toutons” or “panitsiaks,” a kind of fry bread. But given the importance of the meat to her people, she said, “It’s hard to do classes with- out caribou.” She used to teach young people how to cook the heart, tongue and marrow of caribou, delicacies prized by the Inuit. She would tell her students to “not waste any of it.” When the animals were hunted, nothing was
wasted. Bones and antlers were carved into tools or sculptures. Hides were fashioned into clothing. But without the chance for elders to teach the young how to prepare the hide and sew it into garments, those skills will be lost. Hunting terminology, geographic place names
and parts of the caribou known in the Inuit languages are also fading from memory as youth don’t go out on a hunt on the land. “My grandfather and great-grand- father would have known those names,” said Flow- ers. “If you’re not hunting, you lose those terms.” “The ban puts cultural continuity at risk, not just
for 15-year-olds but also for those in their 20s and 30s and 40s,” said Snook. “The longer the ban, the more that’s at risk.”
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION WINTER 2022 21
Caribou can survive the harsh winter by foraging for lichens beneath the snow. Climate change may alter vegetation patterns and disrupt the animals’ food supply.
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