Chesterfeild Inlet (Dec 03/03) - A Chesterfield Inlet elder brought down a polar bear that refused to leave the vicinity of the hamlet this past month.

Elder Adam Alogut watches carefully as student Mary Kadjuk takes her turn at skinning a polar bear shot in the community this past month. - Photo courtesy of Glen Brocklebank

Another female bear and her two cubs were also in the area, but Hunter and Trapper Organization (HTO) members were able to scare the bear family away.

Elder Leonard Putulik had his name drawn in an HTO lottery to bring down the bear.

The Chester HTO phoned wildlife officers in Rankin Inlet for permission to kill the bear.

A tag had to be secured from another hamlet, as Chester does not have a polar bear quota this year.

A community event

The shooting near Nuvua Point quickly became a community event.

Victor Sammurtok school teacher Glen Brocklebank said the entire community witnessed the bear being brought down, skinned and its meat shared with residents.

Brocklebank said everything in the community shut down as residents converged on Nuvua Point, only about 150 metres away from the Northern store.

He said about eight younger hunters pulled the bear from the floe edge before the skinning began.

"People just sort of all joined in and started skinning the bear," said Brocklebank.

"In fact, one of my students, Mary Kadjuk, actually had a chance to skin almost half of the bear."

"Elder Adam Alogut said she did an excellent job. He was very proud of how well she did for her first time."

Educational gold mine

Brocklebank said the event was a positive learning experience for students.

He said this was the type of opportunity Northern educators love.

The school was closed to allow students to watch the chain of events as they unfolded.

"Our students got to see the hunters carefully approach the bear, shoot it, drag it to the shore and skin it.

"A lot of the students were touching the bear's skull and its body as others were skinning it.

"In terms of educational moments, it was the best field trip I've ever been on."

Brocklebank says the bear also had markings from Churchill, which sparked further discussion among the students.

"Once the students saw the tattoo on the bear's lip, they wanted to know what that was all about.

"So we had a great discussion on bear studies and why we're supposed to send in samples of the bear's fat and lower jaw.

"It was an incredible educational experience for not only the students, but the teachers as well."