Saying it with sealskin
Birthday gift turns into expression of Inuit pride
Robin Grant
Northern News Services
Friday, February 17, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
For Braden Johnston, the new sealskin parka his mother sewed for him as a birthday present was more than something to keep him warm - it was a symbol of cultural pride.
Braden Johnston, 18, wears the sealskin parka his mother, Hovak Johnston, left, made for his birthday. - Robin Grant/NNSL photo |
"It made me feel like a king," he said.
"It was like a personal coming of age and coming to accept and affirm and feel pride in the Inuit sense of identity in me. The confidence boost I got when I first put it on was surreal."
On Jan 30, he posted a photo of himself wearing the parka in an igloo on Facebook with a message critical of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, better known as PETA. He said after the post he received a slew of negative comments from people on the Internet.
But Johnston said he expected it.
The point he was making, he said, was how organizations like PETA feel they can criticize indigenous culture, such as the Inuit for wearing sealskin, without much knowledge of what exactly they are criticizing. In Nunavut, for example, seal hunting provides a sustainable and nutritious food source for Inuit and is an essential component for the culture's survival.
"To me, PETA is an organization that represents all the oppression and judgment that, not only my culture has been put through, but all indigenous cultures have had to deal with," he said. "It's just a way of me saying, 'I'm fed up with all this judgment.'"
He added the statement he made wasn't only directed at PETA, but "every person, group or government that has told - not only my people but the many indigenous people across Canada and North America - how their culture should be and how they should live."
Johnston isn't the first person to express frustration with PETA. Inuit throatsinger Tanya Tagaq finished her 2014 Polaris Music Prize acceptance speech by criticizing PETA and its stance on seal hunting with: "People should eat and wear seal."
She then addressed a derogatory expletive toward the organization.
PETA later responded, calling Tagaq's speech an "ill-informed rant."
Tagaq has spoken out in support of the Inuit seal hunt for many years. In 2014, she received death threats after posting a "sealfie" of her young daughter next to a freshly hunted seal.
Braden's mother, Hovak Johnston, is a traditional Inuit tattoo artist and throatsinger. She said she knew of her son's intentions with the message he put on the Internet, and gave him permission to post on Facebook.
"We taught (our sons) to be proud of their culture and stand up for what they believe in and not to be ashamed," she said. "(Inuit) get a lot of negative feedback. We're not savages. We don't go and slaughter animals. We're respectful to animals, and we use everything - every part of the animal."
She said the rage surrounding seal hunting and wearing sealskin is particularly bad in the south.
"Every time I make (my sons) something with fur, I prepare them that there might be some hate and I don't want it to be a shock to them," she said.
But along with the hate, Braden told Yellowknifer he received a flood of support from family and friends, including Tanya Tagaq, who re-posted his picture on Facebook and Twitter.
"It made me happy that they took the time out of their day to support me," he said. "They all did it on their own, and I thank everybody who jumped in."
Johnston said he will continue to wear the parka with pride.
