Harvesters from the beluga exchange process the whale they caught earlier that day.

ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ: Alex Tesar

“Harvesting has always been a part of life here, and it still is today.”

—John Noksana Jr., Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories

For generations, my people have lived off the ocean. My mom had fish three times a day: breakfast, supper, and lunch, with fish broth in between. I always have a lot of respect for the ocean because if it wasn’t for the ocean, I don’t think we’d be here today as a people.

It’s a similar story across the North. People have always harvested—and people have always helped each other. That’s why Oceans North is supporting a harvester exchange between my community of Tuktoyaktuk and Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, in partnership with the Tuktoyaktuk Hunters and Trappers Committee and the Kangiqliniq Hunters and Trappers Organization.

For the first leg of the exchange, Sonny Ittinuar and his son Malla travelled from Rankin Inlet to Tuktoyaktuk to learn how we harvest and prepare beluga whales, a species that’s important to both our communities. We are documenting the whole exchange so that this knowledge can be shared with others and used as a guide for future generations for the preparation of the whale.

The place where we went to harvest is Kittygaryuit (Kitti), one of three subregions that make up the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area (TNMPA). This was the first Arctic MPA created in Canada, and it was developed in partnership with Inuvialuit to help protect belugas from industrial impacts. But there’s more than whales here—we’re protecting a whole ecosystem. Because, as we know, everything is connected. To protect the ocean, you have to protect everything else, including the land and animals that use the area.

It was a rare privilege to be able to come and film here. Besides harvesters and the military, boats aren’t allowed to stop in this area to avoid disturbing the whales. And it was the first time anyone had been able to film the harvest in the TNMPA.

As we prepared to leave town, we got the boats ready. Sonny and Malla were surprised at the size of them—we use smaller boats than they do in Rankin, since our waters are shallower and we don’t need to travel as far. We also made sure we had two harpoons. When you go out to get a whale, you always bring more than one harpoon. You never know when you might need backup.

In early July in Tuktoyaktuk, the sun never goes down. But the wind can change quickly. We only had a short window to go out. And unlike in Rankin Inlet, where Sonny says the water is clear, it’s murky where we hunt. The silt from the Mackenzie River makes it hard to see the belugas. You need to watch for the whale’s wake. The driver has to work in sync with the hunter and follow where the harpoon is pointing.

Natalie Noksana readies a harpoon.

ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ: Alex Tesar

Once we caught a whale, we brought it to Hendrickson Island, the base for one of the longest-running monitoring programs of its kind. Local monitors work in partnership with scientists from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to take a whole bunch of different samples, and almost everyone brings their whales here because it’s important to know what you’re putting on your table. In the south, you read what’s on the back of your groceries. Here, we get results every year from the samples letting us know that the whales are healthy.

In partnership with local monitors, researchers at Hendrickson Island collect data on the whales that are harvested nearby.

ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ: Alex Tesar

Preparing the Muktuk

Every part of the harvest depends on the weather, not just the hunting. If it’s hot, like the day we got our whale, you need to work quickly so that the meat and muktuk (the skin and fat) don’t spoil. It’s a long process. But It allows you to spend time with your family and friends while you’re working. It brings everybody together in a positive way, and everyone’s happy and doing something. When you’re harvesting, you’re securing your future.

One of the things we were excited to show Sonny and Malla was how we use the whale meat. In our region, it’s a delicacy for our people. You can cut the flipper into slabs like bacon and cook it on an open fire, and if you soak the bigger pieces of meat in some water mixed with baking soda for at least 6 hours, it extracts the blood and oil, and you can then use them like any other meat. My dad, John Sr., and my daughter Natalie also made mipku, which is traditional dry meat. With the muktuk, we made uksuk, the oil from the whale fat. It’s great with other traditional food we harvest, like caribou and fish. For all these things, we filmed the process so that we can share this knowledge not just with Sonny and Malla but with anyone who wants to learn how to safely prepare these traditional foods.

Community Feast

Muktuk is the skin and fat of the whale.

ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ: BUILD Films / Oceans North

In between harvesting and preparing the muktuk, we held a community feast. Everyone had snacks and muktuk while Sonny and Malla shared what they had learned over the last week. Towards the end of the feast, Darrel Nasogaluak, chair of the Tuktoyaktuk HTC, gave an ulu—a traditional knife for slicing meat—to Sonny. Earlier that week, Darryl had also presented Sonny with a harpoon as a symbol of the exchange.

That was really meaningful for him. When somebody gives you something, you hang on to it more than you would if it was something you bought. If somebody gives me something, I cherish it, especially if it’s a hunting tool. It means a lot to me because it was a gift, and it’s going to feed me forever. And now Sonny will always have something to commemorate his time here.

ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ: BUILD Films / Oceans North

Sharing the Catch

The last thing we did was deliver muktuk to people in town. Sharing is another important part of our harvest. I usually take half a whale for my family—that’s all I need—and I’ll give the other half away to somebody who doesn’t have the equipment or the means to get out. People have always helped each other, and even though we have grocery stores now, traditional foods will always be an essential part of our diet.

It was great having Sonny and Malla here to share our knowledge and have them experience our beluga harvest. We made a couple of new friends, and everyone here was able to learn more about them and what their lives are like back in Rankin Inlet. Whether it’s an exchange or some other avenue, it’s important to have these opportunities to learn from our neighbours.

Next Stop: Rankin Inlet, NU

John Noksana Jr. (left) and his father, John Sr. (right).

ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ: BUILD Films / Oceans North

Next, I’ll be travelling to Rankin Inlet with Natalie and John Sr. to learn about how they harvest belugas. In some ways, with the deep, clear water there, it will feel like a different world. But there will also be a lot of similarities. Even over these big distances, we’ve always been connected—through the importance of the ocean, harvesting, and our families, many of whom used to and continue to travel far across our lands and waters. And as Indigenous peoples, we’re also connected in another way. We’re always going out of our way to help whoever it may be and learn from one another.

John Noksana Jr. is Oceans North’s community projects advisor.