© Megan Kyak-Monteith
Serving Seal in Ikpiarjuk
I LOVE SEAL MEAT when it’s still warm. Red so deep, my eyes feel it. Delicious. Last fall, I shot a seal near Arctic Bay, Nunavut, and my first reaction was “wow! — I got it.” My second thought was the seal’s liver, and how it makes my mouth water. And then a little disappointment comes over me when I realize that I shot the seal through one of its eyes. I wanted to eat it.
Immediately after, we find a spot away from piling ice that’s been collecting from the blowing wind. We need to cut the seal quickly on the (fairly) stable ice floe, keeping watch so we don’t end up getting stuck inside a maze of moving ice. My hunting partner, Tom Naqitarvik Karliin, unravels the fresh intestines to clean and braid. Tom, is cutting up the seal into pieces, while my camera man, Jimmie Papatsie, eats the liver with fat. “Mamaqtuuq! Tinguttuttarivunga, nakurmiik!” cries Jimmie in Inuktitut, meaning, “Delicious! Thank you for feeding me liver!”
© Megan Kyak-Monteith
That moment makes me proud, and feel more connected to my culture than ever. I fully appreciate the satisfaction that comes with sharing. Sharing seal always makes me feel so much better than receiving it. I also think about my great grandmother. She lived this. This was her life. My connection to her is strongest in moments like this, and I feel her enormous smile beaming on me.
The views along the boat ride back to Arctic Bay are incredible. As we travel back, Tom shares stories of the sites where Inuit have travelled and hunted for millennia. He points out a grave along the way. The history here is rich. It makes me wonder about all the Inuit who have been here, of all the things that have taken place.
We arrive back in the community while the sun is still up and people are out and about — it’s 2:00 in the morning. We hangout on the balcony where we’re staying and, soon enough, kids come runningto us with big smiles. “Kina nattiqpa?” Who caught a seal? a kid asks in Inuktitut after spotting meat on the balcony. “Uvanga!” I proudly exclaim. Me! I see surprise and pride in their eyes. A kid responds: “A girl! Wow! A girl caught this!”
I’m just as excited as they are. I grab a knife and cut pieces of the meat to share with the kids. They eat meat off the ribs, and one finishes the last intact eyeball. It’s Inuit tradition for the kids to eat the seal eyeballs, and part of me realizes that I’m not a kid anymore. The commotion at our balcony draws the attention of another person nearby, who joins the ad hoc feast. “Mamaq!” she cries with satisfaction, and I give her a bag of meat to take away.
Eventually, everyone goes home, and I find myself sitting in bed with a big smile on my wind‐burnt face. I couldn’t be happier. The sight of kids with seal blood on their faces will forever be engrained on me.
© Megan Kyak-Monteith
