Angry Inuk
See the documentary “Angry Inuk.” If only to understand the cultural disposition underlying the meaning of the title, it’s worth it to see this film.
What do you think about killing seals? Do you flash on cute, white, baby harp seals clubbed to death? Did you know that the Inuit people do not kill that kind of seal or kill that way, and anyway, that the harp seal population is nowhere near an endangered species?
Do you eat killed animals? Wear anything from animal hides?
Animal rights advocates, at least the well-financed, highly visible animal rights organizations, have spearheaded bans on seal products, or at least crashed their market desirability. Do you know that Greenpeace apologized to the Inuit people for the unforeseen damage done to them because of past campaigns about the commercial seal trade?
Eating seal is a feature of the Inuit diet. It’s local, wild, fresh, organic, and nutritious. Living in the Arctic cold, they wear seal. It’s their culture. It’s a primary natural resource, living in the harsh climate of their homeland.
Bans decades ago and bans in the last few years exempt Inuit people. “Angry Inuk” explains that an exemption for the Inuit is irrelevant since the collapse in seal trade essentially shuts down their part of the market and the needed boost to their subsistence level economy.
See “Angry Inuk” for reasons ranging from the tone of the filmmaker and the Inuit culture to implications for stewarding the arctic region.