Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 03/98) - The 1998 bowhead whale hunt was more than a success for the hunters who killed the massive mammal two weeks ago near Kekerten Island.

Pangnirtung businesses say they reaped significant economic spinoffs from the historic and traditional gathering.

At Pangnirtung's Inuit Co-op, sales increased 30 per cent from the time the whale hunt started July 20 and ended two weeks later.

"It was very good for business," said Co-op manager Robert Knox. "I'm very pleased."

One of the more popular items sold at the store was a commemorative `98 bowhead T-shirt for $20. Knox sold 200 shirts mostly to local hunters who wanted something to remember the hunt by.

"We sold out the first order and we re-ordered. I ordered another 150 plus 50 hats," said Knox.

"An awful lot of people went out on the land to Kerketen, at a camp off from where they were doing the hunt."

Another sector of the business community to reap benefits from the hunt were local outfitters who transported elders, visitors and media to the site after the whale was killed.

Joavee Alivaktuk was one of the outfitters kept busy by the hunt. For $90 a person Alivaktuk moved people in his 28-foot open fibreglass boat to the historic site in Cumberland Sound. In one day he picked up 34 passengers amounting to just over $3,000 in business for his company.

"It was busy," said Alivaktuk who's been an outfitter for nine years.

The 46-year-old's main clientele are usually Canadian and American tourists who come to Pangnirtung to explore the Arctic. On average he sees about 180 tourists annually. During the hunt Alivaktuk's customers consisted mostly of local elders wanting to get in on the action and excitement following the kill.

Sim Akpalialuk, Pangnirtung's economic development officer said it is difficult to assess the economic impact of the hunt in the community at this point. He has to wait until the local hunters and trappers association and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board compile their financial report.

Even though Pang was the host community for the hunt, Akpalialuk noted that most people left the Baffin community for Kekerten where the hunt actually took place, and that took a bite out of the local economy.

"To give you an idea, the population of Pangnirtung dwindled down to maybe less than a quarter of the population because everybody was either out on the land camping or out at the historic site," said Akpalialuk.

"I can tell you we did not do very well economically during the hunt, maybe afterwards or prior to the hunt. I'm still collecting data from all the stores."

It is important to point out as well, he said, that there was more to the bowhead hunt than the economic benefits it brought.

"You have to look at the other benefits that are not monetary. It's a very strong significant thing for the people culturally. This community's ancestry is all whaling."