Aklavik (Mar 31/03) - Food banks are not available in most smaller communities in the Northwest Territories, so residents take it upon themselves to support the less fortunate.

In virtually all hamlets in the Mackenzie Delta, families who can hunt for themselves share their caribou meat with those who cannot.

Some hamlets have community hunts, in which several residents head out on the land to harvest enough caribou to feed several people.

In other communities, residents share with as many people as they can, just because they want to.

In Aklavik, they do not have community hunts because the caribou are not close enough at this time of year, said the Hunters and Trappers Committee chair Evelyn Storr.

"People usually buy the meat from hunters in the other communities, like McPherson," Storr said.

"If people want meat they make arrangements to buy it," she said.

But for those who cannot afford it, they do not go hungry.

"If people get caribou, they share it. It's just the way people are. We take care of our own," said Storr.

Colin Okheena said it's the same thing in Holman.

"If somebody is not able to go out and hunt for themselves, whoever has been out and got food tries to help out," he said.

People don't really think of it as charity, it's just how things are done, Okheena said.

"It's just always been part of our tradition to share with other people, especially when it's fresh food, or a fresh catch," he said.