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IQALUIT
Iqaluit hunters landed their bowhead whale Aug. 15 within 24 hours of setting out on their hunt in Frobisher Bay.

Iqaluit hunters landed a 14-metre bowhead whale in Frobisher Bay Aug. 15. - photo courtesy of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association

"On behalf of Inuit in the Qikiqtani region, I congratulate the Amarok Hunters and Trappers Association as we celebrate this historic occasion with pride," stated QIA president Okalik Eegeesiak in a press release. "To witness Inuit prepare for the hunt for the bowhead here in Nunavut's capital was very special."

According to the press release, following the successful hunt, a group of Inuit sang a Scottish whaling song for the hunters to celebrate and praise them.

Cathy Towtongie, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc, said she took to the streets to celebrate.

"People were looking at me stunned; so I did my own celebrating, like stopping complete strangers. I had so much fun," she said with a laugh.

Growing up, Towtongie said her father would tell her stories about hunting bowhead whales before the restrictions were in place.

"If you strike it successfully, it's as easy as killing a sparrow," she said.

Towtongie said she was at the Anglican church last Sunday morning, Aug. 14, when several hunters left for the hunt. She hugged the captain of one of the ships and wished him luck but also gave him a message of inspiration. "I told him this is for my father," she said.

"It's really touching because ... our ancestors would have rejoiced to see this day when they would freely partake in the bowhead feast."

Towtongie said her brother-in-law Eneasie Kanayuk's boat was the first one to reach the bowhead whale. One of the hunters on the boat, Luc Peter, threw the first harpoon, she said.

On Aug. 18, the hunters still hadn't returned to Iqaluit but remained at a camp carving the bowhead.

Bowhead whales are the largest whales in Arctic waters, reaching up to 20 metres in length, and can weigh up to 100 tons.

Centuries of overharvesting depleted the whale's populations in the eastern and western Arctic. In Canada, the bowhead whale was designated an endangered species in 1980, but due to population recovery it was downgraded to threatened in 2005, and downgraded again to a species of special concern in 2009.

Currently, Nunavut is permitted to harvest three bowhead whales a year. Hunts will also take place this year in Kugaaruk and Coral Harbour.

A community feast to celebrate Iqaluit's successful hunt was to take place on the weekend.

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