By Karen Strawser, Sue Quackenbush, and Bill Selberis

The original hunters of polar bears and pinnepeds were the Inuit. Their culture revolved around the hunting and eating of marine mammals. Almost all Inuit cultures have a common legend of "The boy who went to live with the seals". It was said that the boy perceived the seals as human tribe members. Due to this legend, any seal that was killed was honored and considered to be the boy. In a ceremony called the Bladder Festival, the seal is treated as an honored guest with the members of the tribe dancing around and paying homage to it. During this festival, the hunters and their wives dress as seabirds to further honor the animal (Fienup-Riordan, 1990).

The Inuit word for polar bear is "Nanuk". The prevailing Inuit legend concerning polar bears is that of the "polar bear men". These men were believed to shed their skin once in the safety of their igloo homes. They were believed to be friends of the Inuit, and could supposedly even talk. When a polar bear was killed, the entire tribe honored the bear. This bear was believed to have allowed itself to be killed to obtain the tools the Inuit would honor it with. Male polar bears were given hunting tools, and the females were given sewing tools. If a bear was pleased by these gifts, then its spirit would go and tell the other bears of the honor and how they too should allow themselves to be killed. The bears would avoid a hunter who failed to pay them the proper respect (www.polarbearsalive.org, 1999).

The Inuit used every part of the seals they killed, as well as every part of the polar bear with the exception of the liver. To treat illnesses, seal meat, oil, broth, and skin were all used. The hunt itself as well as the sharing of the seal meat was considered essential for the mind, body, and spiritual well being of the whole community (Borre, 1994). Polar bear skins were used for clothing. An average polar bear would yield 3 pairs of trousers, and one kamik, the traditional dress for the women (www.polarbearsalive.org, 1999).

The large-scale exploitation of seals began when the white man discovered the New World and with it the profit capabilities of the seal industry. One of the most illustrative examples of this exploitation is the history of the Pribilof Islands. In 1786 Captain Gerasim Pribilof claimed the islands which bear his name for Russia. From his ship, he and his crew could see a great congregation of seals through the fog. In fact, over three million Northern Fur Seals naturally inhabited the islands (Laycock, 1986).

The captain and his crew began slaughtering the seals on the spot. Before long, Russia had enslaved native Aleutians to kill and process the seals for them. But by 1834, the seal population in the islands was so low that the Russians stopped killing the females (Laycock, 1986).

The herds gradually recovered until 1867, when the United States purchased Alaska from the Russians. The Americans attacked the seals with a gold-rush mentality. The U.S. then proceeded to open the seals up to commercial companies, who would typically bring in a total of 300,000 skins in one season. The government then turned the seals over to two private companies that continued to deplete the population for the next forty years (Laycock, 1986).

At the same time, Northern Fur Seals were also being killed on the open seas by Russia, Japan, and Canada, as well as the U.S. In a 30-year period, almost one million northern fur seals were killed on the open ocean alone. As if this weren’t enough, it is believed that the hunters only recovered one out of every ten seals that were killed.

Because of the severe depletion, the first international agreement regarding the hunting of fur seals was agreed to by all four countries in 1893. In 1906, however, the U.S. caught Japan poaching, and 5 Japanese were killed in the incident. By 1910 only two to three hundred thousand northern fur seals remained. In 1911, all four countries signed the first Fur Seal Treaty. The treaty stated that the U.S. and Russia would continue to hunt, and that Canada and Japan would each receive 15% of the annual harvest (Sherwood, 1984 & Laycock, 1986).

In 1941, during the throws of World War II, Japan pulled out of the treaty. In 1957 the Interim Convention on the Conservation of Northern Pacific Fur Seals was held. This conference outlawed the pelagic sealing all together. It also established the Fur Seal Commission of Scientists to set limits on the number of seals taken each year. Under this agreement, the United States continued to employ natives to kill and process 20-30,000 seals per year. The furs were then sold to the Foucke Company of SC (Laycock, 1986).

Because of the new legislation, the fur seal populations recovered to almost two million at one point. Currently, however, the population has been sliding approximately 6.5% per year. In 1985, the treaty was changed to allow subsistence only hunting by the Aleutian natives (Watson, 1996 & Laycock 1986).

The commercial hunting of polar bears began in the 1500s. By the 1700s it was a thriving industry. In the 1950s the hunting continued on an even larger scale with the addition of new technology such as aircraft, motorboats, and snowmobiles. The devastation of the polar bears was so great that the use of aircraft and motorboats was banned in 1973. Shortly after, polar bears were named a threatened species and the trade of most polar bear goods was banned it most countries. Despite this protection, polar bear skins continued to be sold on the black market, and the gall bladders were sold for use in ancient medicine (http://imp.uow.edu.au/staff/feen/polarbear/pb_sci8.html).

The exploitation of polar bears and seals resulted in widespread protests in the late 1970s and on into the 80s. One organization that was notorious for their protests was Greenpeace. Activists would venture out onto the ice and spray green paint on the fur of baby harp seals to make their pelts worthless. In 1982, due to public pressure, the European parliament passed a resolution against the import of harp and hooded seal pup skins into member states. This dramatic blow to the market virtually wiped out the demand for seal pup fur (www.greenpeacecanada.org).

Practically all seal hunting after this point was limited to subsistence hunting of native peoples. Continued protests of animal rights and antisealing activists damaged the traditional Inuit seal hunt, especially the hunting of ringed seals. The protesters' objective was to protect baby harp seals along the Atlantic coast of Canada, but in the process interfered with the Inuit hunts. Many Inuit have developed local economic bases on the sale of ringed sealskins, and were devastated during all the protesting (Wenzel, 1987).

In 1996, Canada held the first large-scale commercial hunt since clubbing was banned in 1987. The seal populations had recovered enough to sustain such a hunt. The International Fund for Animal Welfare documented the hunt and gathered footage of inhumane and illegal seal slaughtering (Chivers, 1997). The video showed live seals lifted out of the water on hooks, and writhing on the ice after being shot. The IFAW claimed that the tape showed 144 violations during the hunt (McClean’s, 1997). In November of 1996, the Canadian Department of Fisheries charged 101 hunters for the illegal slaughter of hooded seal pups (Chivers, 1997).

Today’s hunters use high powered rifles to kill seals. They claim that almost everything is used, from the meat to the penis bone, which is sold to Asian markets as an aphrodisiac. The Nova Scotia School of Fisheries even provides hunters with communication classes, which teach them how to deal with activists. The two week course teaches the hunters to move to a different area when activists are present, and how to respond without violence (McClean’s, 1996).

Roughly 125 polar bears are shot by Alaskan natives each year under the subsistence provision of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The only stipulation is that if a bear is killed, it must be used for something. The natives are not allowed to sell the skins, but they are allowed to make and sell products from them. They are allowed to hunt with modern equipment, and are allowed to kill mothers with cubs (www.polarbearsalive.org).

In Greenland, natives are allowed to hunt polar bears, but are forbidden from selling any bear parts or products (www.polarbearsalive.org). Hunting remains the only real means of living in some parts of Greenland. Hunting from boats comprises a large percentage of the kill. While yearly environmental conditions determine the limits of kills, the actual numbers have remained somewhat constant (Sandell, et al 1996).

In Norway, polar bears have been completely protected since 1973. This has resulted in a doubling of their numbers, from a low of 1000 to 2000 currently. In Russia, the bears have been protected since 1956. Yet the breakdown of the Russian economy in recent years has led to widespread poaching. Some believe that subsistence hunting would help eliminate the food shortage, while others see the attraction of sport hunters who would be willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the right to hunt (www.polarbearsalive.org).

In Canada, about 650 bears are killed each year by natives. Each community is given a quota, and the natives are allowed to sell their right to hunt to non-natives (www.polarbearsalive.org). These trophy hunts, which are all booked up for 1999, cost around $19,500.

Borre, Kristen. 1994. The healing power of the seal: the meaning of the Inuit health Practice and belief. Arctic Anthropology. V31 n1 p1.

Chivers, C.J. 1997. The hunt is on…and the seal wars are back. Wildlife conservation. V100 n5 p56.

Chivers, C.J. 1997. 101 seal hunters. Wildlife conservation. V100 n2 p18.

Feenick’s Polar Bear Page.1999. http://imp.uow.edu.au/staff/feen/polarbear/pb_sci8.html

Fienup-Riordan, Ann. 1990. The bird and the bladder: the cosmology of Yup’ik seal Hunting. Estudes/ Inuit Studies. V14 n1-2 p23.

Greenpeace Canada. 1999. www.greenpeacecanada.org/gpc_anniversary1.html

Laycock, George. 1986. The legacy of Gerasim Pribilof. Audobon. V88 p94.

McClean’s. 1997. Blood on the ice. McClean’s. v110 n8 p27.

McClean’s. 1996. The hunt for a better image. McClean’s. v109 n4 p7.

Polar Bears Alive! 1999. www.polarbearsalive.org/facts2.htm, facts5.htm,presrpt.htm

Sandell, Hanne, and Birger. 1996. Polar bear hunting and hunters in Ittoqqortoormitt/Scoresbysund, NE Greenland. Arctic Anthropology. V33 n2 p77.

Sherwood, Morgan. 1984. Seal poaching in the north Pacific: Japanese raids on the Pribilofs, 1906. Alaska History. V1 n1 p45.

Watson, Rupert. 1996. In the midst of time. Geographical magazine. V68 n5 p48.

Wenzel, George. 1987. "I was once independent": the southern seal protest and Inuit. Anthropologica [Canada]. V29 n2 p195.

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