KANGIQLINIQ/RANKIN INLET
In support of federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq's appeal before the WTO appellate board last week to have the European Union ban on Canadian seal products lifted, Rankin Inlet's Terrie Kusugak joined protesters on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Rankin Inlet's Terrie Kusugak talks to a reporter after a parliament hill rally in support of the Inuit seal fur trade. The March 18 rally was held in support of federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq's appeal before the WTO appellate board to have the organization overrule a 2009 EU ban on Canadian seal products. - photo courtesy of Patricia D'Souza

"The world doesn't have enough understanding of what we do, or how we do it," Kusugak said of the seal hunt. "Sealing is very important to Inuit. When we go out hunting, that in itself strengthens our culture. There's a cultural grounding you get from teaching your kin to hunt."

Kusugak is in Ottawa attending Nunavut Sivuniksavut. She and her class attended a Parliament Hill rally in support of the seal fur trade organized by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

Rally participants wore seal fur and held a light-hearted seal fur fashion show to raise awareness around the 2009 ban, which has had a devastating impact upon Inuit communities that rely on the trade to supplement their use of the seal for sustenance and clothing.

More than 100 people were reported to have gathered on Parliament Hill for the rally.

"The skin is used in clothing and boots," Kusugak said. "Those things can be sold and provide funds to families so they can continue to go out hunting. It's an amazing cycle of humanely killing seals and using every part of them."

The 2009 EU ban on Canadian seal products has tarnished the image of seal hunting in front of the international community. Kusugak and other rally participants hope to reverse the negative perceptions which persist regarding the seal hunt. Lifting the EU ban would be a good first step.

"It frustrates us a lot of the time," Kusugak said. "We're humanely and respectfully killing the seals, but the world has such a negative image of it. We'd like to alleviate that specifically by repealing the ban."

For Kusugak and others who have grown up with seal hunting and its products as a backdrop to their lives, it can be difficult to understand how anyone could see seal fur and skin as anything but desirable.

"In our hometowns, it's a great market," Kusugak said. "People want to buy and wear seal. We understand who hunted it, who made it, and where it came from. It's such a comforting feeling. It's why we often don't understand why people wouldn't want seal."

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