Sacred hunt: a portrait of the relationship between seals and Inuit

This book explores the relationship between the Inuit of the North, primarily Canada's, and the seals they hunt that were essential to their existence until well into this century. Although, as the author notes on the title page, no Inuk ever said to him that the hunt for seals is a sacred act, he affirms that a spiritual relationship exists between the Inuit and the seals which is not based on the hunt alone, but on the whole relationship between Inuit and seal, to which the seal is central. To explain and defend this view, [David F. Pelly] draws on many sources. He quotes from his own discussions with Inuit and from several archival sources, including records of interviews with Inuit from past times, when more than a century ago the seal hunt was primarily conducted on foot over the ice, or from kayaks, with the aid of a harpoon. He relates his own experiences of hunting with Inuit and illustrates the hunt pictures from archives, both from expeditions in the nineteenth century and afterwards. The pictures themselves tell a powerful tale; their being in black and white inevitably romanticizes and softens what is at its core a harsh story for modern western sensibilities. Harsh not only because of the hunt, but also because the life of the Inuit, in one of the most severe environments that human beings have chosen to live in, was difficult almost beyond modern comprehension. There are much broader questions for modern environmentalists in Pelly's book. For example: is hunting wrong, and should the Inuit be encouraged to find other means of livelihood? Pelly does not believe so. He concludes that "the importance of the seal to the Inuit extends far beyond its economic value. The seal lies at the foundation of traditional Inuit society, the complex of material, social, spiritual, and cultural values that define for many Inuit who they are" (114). And what should modern mankind's relationship be to the natural environment? Should mankind leave largely untouched environments like most of the Canadian arctic alone, and have a hands-off relationship with the animals and plants of the wild? Where, when, and how should culling begin and end?