Always willing to discuss that which is near and dear to my heart!
I think it's wonderful we're all so passionate enough to take action yet listen at the same time. Very important.
Long and boring sorry folks. Hopefully it'll be a little interesting.
Kenai by the way, is absolutely stunning. I have a friend who works in Dry Bay and is a fishing/hunting place. Her boyfriend has been doing this in Dry Bay for over 20 some odd years.
Yes, things are going sour we agree on this. Especially some idiot using puppies and kittens for bate. I do draw the line on that. Bate is just fine. Good Lord made me sick when I read that. Also, situation in Africa is different because they are poaching. Different situations. So don't compare that to this. Thousands, even hundreds of seals are not being slaughtered through subsistence. We're talking on total a year for food maybe 20 in a large area. Far less than what you are thinking. In this area maybe 5 seals are taken. It's all shared for the most part so no one is over hunting. No whaling here.
Okay, think through this perspective for a moment. The villagers up north have been living there ever so long. It is their home. Realistically, is it reasonable to say, "Hey, move so your life is easier because I don't like how you live?" When, they know far more about what they are doing than we do. If they see a shortage of a food staple, they find something else. NEVER NEVER NEVER do the Natives up North overharvest. It's like a taboo to do so. In fact charter fishing and hunting as guides are seen as an exploitation by many up here.
Also, Inuit is mainly Canadian, so, they are probably able to harvest marine mammals differently than the Alaskan Natives: Yupik, Inupiat, Aleut, Alutiqq and others. IN fact, in Canada, they may have a commercial outlet, I'm not sure.
Howevever, up North in Alaska, US, an act called The Marine Mammal Protection Act is in place. No marine mammals or their parts can be sold by anyone, imported or exported, and a native can sell but first it must be altered, meaning in art form (such as mucluc, slippers, parka, ivory carving etc, and the meat can only be taken by natives for subsistence use. Now, this does not mean any Native can run out and shoot a seal, whale, walrus etc. NO NO NO. You still have to get a permit. To export, ha, you are looking at an incredibly expensive permit, with a major major tax. Its not easy. The villages up north have been doing this for generations always have and always will, so they have proven their need, but most do not abuse it for commercialism. Couldn't if they wanted to. Seals are NOT hunted for the pelt anymore. That was way back when in a different area. Here, the meat is used more than the pelt.
To take any marine mammal arts across the border to sell elsewhere even through to go to seattle, a special permit that is very spendy must be obtained. So not many do it.
Northern peoples know how to live up there and even genetically their bodies have adapted to the environment. They are settled in. Now, some villages are a tad larger these days but not much. Meaning schools. Schools meaning a store and post office. However, a gallon of milk flown in, when the planes can fly in winter (mind you it is pitch black up there for 6 or more months of the year and very very cold), which is not very often due to the harness of the environment, can cost up to 10 bucks a gallon. YIKES. Could we afford to live like this? NO. Forget about meats, fruits, or vegetables, a certain time of year, it ain't getting through. Out of the question. However, they live by seasons and know what to pick and when what to store and how, and how to prepare for each winter. They also know what they can find during the winter if they are running low. A whale, one mind you, rarely two, sometimes not even one, can feed an entire village or other families in other areas and all is used. The fats in the whale give the body energy needed to stay healthy during the winter. It is no easy feat getting these whales. They pretty much do this traditionally and only the men actually go out whale hunting. It is fortunate to actually bring in one.
Asking them to move somewhere else where life is "easier" and so they can't hunt or fish or subsist anymore, well...
Who is going to provide the jobs they will need to pay for rent, cloth their children, buy their fuel, buy their food? Who will provide college and training so people are not stuck with dishwashing or delivery jobs. Its not as easy as some believe. You can't just pick up and move to a new place. People up North are not rich like some folks believe. That is a false assumption. Monies for most of the natives up here are tied into corporations. Only small amounts are given to those who were born prior to a certain date. A few are considered rich, yes, but even then, they are not rich as individuals. How much do you think they see from the corporations? It's very political, so we aren't going to go there!!
But, asking them to move, it's not reasonable. Are they complaining because they subsist and live in an almost unliveable environment? And to be honest, Traditional Northern natives are well adapted, at home, do not exploit food, live in the harshest environment imaginable, accept their way of life, why then can we not accept them for who they are? Traditional way of life is not harming anyone.
I will tell you though, that our society and our way of life has done 50 times more damage to that environment and group of peoples and the way of life than you could imagine.
For freezers! Yes, their entire land is a freezer for heavens sake!
THis is why they do seasonal subsistence and why one whale can feed an entire village for 6 months or longer. It freezes as they are cutting it up! So they know well how to store their food supply. Don't think of it as they go out every month or week to go whale hunting. The way they hunt whale, OH MY LORD. NO way would anyone do this on a regular basis. They do it in...Kayaks
. That's right, Kayaks. They are very very skilled and know exactly what they are doing. And whales don't just float around up there all the time. Their migration is also seasonal. You have one chance in a year sometimes longer and that is it.
This is what seperates subsistence from commercial. So those who subsist to live are just trying to live. Should they be deprived from their nutrition? I mean why do people go on hunting guides? To hunt. Do they need to?
These people have more of a need than those of us living near stores. To be honest, my husband who is native, we also do a little bit of subsistence. I come from a farm, we too did the same only a lot of our food was grown. It was our way of life, and yes, we were poor so the food we grew was imperative to our well being during winter. The off season. We didn't have money to go to the stores. So it's all good. Just different.
Economics up here is killer. Even here where I live, we pay double what you pay due to shipping. We're more expensive than Kenai. We're on an island here. So economics also has a large role in subsistence. If we can smoke, jar, or freeze fish for winter, that will save us a great deal of money to be spent on electric or diesil, or other bills such as things you cannot subsist for like boots, shoes, and the such. Move? Really, and where are we going to work, where are we going to live?
See how it fits all together?
Luv
Don't think for a minute though that I excuse any of the appalling actions of the trawlers, draggers, commerical whalers, slaughters, and flat out abuse. Uncalled for abuse. That too we fight against. But we do seperate it out, because those who are just living, should not pay for those who are abusing.
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