Arctic Hunting
Hunting was the most important part of Arctic life. If you didn't hunt successfully, you and your family might starve to death. In such a barren environment, hunters often had to travel very long distances in search of prey, using kayaks to hunt sea mammals like seal, walrus and whale and sledges to hunt caribou, birds and other land-based prey.
Hunters carried a variety of weapons, although ivory harpoons and bone-tipped arrows were preferred. Animals were wounded and chased across the tundra, ice and sea until they collapsed. Once brought down the prey had to be butchered quickly before other predators gathered, and the meat was frozen in the ice for the long journey home.
Hunting was so important that many objects were tailored specifically to it, such as clothing, made from the skins of the animals they hunted and made to allow for movement and flexibility while still keeping the wearer warm and dry. No parts of the animals were wasted, bones boiled for soup and then split to make blades, skins kept for clothing and gut sewn together and worn as rain capes.
Hunting also informed spiritual life in the Arctic, and appeals to the spirits were often specifically tailored to ask for help and support with the coming hunts and to implore the spirits to ensure that the men came home safe with food for the family. Without this line of support, starvation was a ready and common threat.
Today people in the Arctic still hunt. They live so far from other people and transport networks that imported food is extremely expensive. As a result all Arctic peoples today still rely on what they can procure locally, using rifles to hunt their prey but still travelling huge distances to find it. When questioned, most Arctic people say they prefer fresh frozen meat over imports and resist outside efforts to impinge on traditional hunting territories and rights.
