Brent Reaney
Northern News Services

Repluse Bay (July 27/05) - While many harvesters in the community spent last week focusing their attention on an abundance of nearby narwhals, the date is now set and the hunters have been selected for this year's bowhead hunt.

If everything goes as planned, the hunt will begin Aug. 14, according to hunt committee chair Laimmiki Malliki.

The 16 participants were selected from about 60 people who put their names forward.

"It was very hard," he said of the selection process, while taking a break from cleaning a narhwal at his Repulse Bay home last week. "But I haven't seen anybody get disappointed."

Most of the hunters are middle-aged, but Malliki said four younger people were also selected to learn the skills of the hunt.

"There's going to be some people trying in the traditional way (harpoons) and also the new way," he said.

In order to keep costs down, everybody on the hunt will be a volunteer.

Base camp in town

The base camp will be made within the community of about 700 people, where the group will remain ready to get moving whenever a bowhead sighting is reported.

In the past, the bowhead provided the Inuit with food and tools. But the population of slow-moving animals, which can grow up to 20 metres long, was heavily depleted by commercial whalers during the 19th century.

In Canada, it has been illegal to kill the animals without a licence since 1979, though exceptions have been made for aboriginal subsistence hunts.

Currently listed as endangered under Canada's Species at Risk Act, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement - with approval from the federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans - allows beneficiaries a chance to harvest one animal every three to five years.

Though preliminary results of a study being conducted by a DFO researcher have shown the number of bowhead whales may be significantly higher than previously believed, final conclusions have not been released.

Repulse Bay's proposal was selected from a total of six submissions in February. In 2002, the communities of Hall Beach and Iglulik shared the hunt.

Since then, the community, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, and fisheries have been finalizing the details.

A lot of work done

"A lot of work has gone into it already," said Beth Guptill with DFO in Rankin Inlet. "They have hunting methods and guidelines set."

Fisheries representatives will be riding alongside the hunters in a separate boat to ensure that, among other things, only one animal is harvested, and any animal injured by the hunting party is recovered.

The department is also planning to meet with the hunters prior to the event to go through the rules one last time.

This year, each hunter is from Repulse Bay, which Malliki thinks should be good for group communication.

"They know who can do what," he said.

"If it's somebody I've never seen before, I don't know what he can do."

He remembers being in a boat with a complete stranger during a previous Repulse bowhead hunt where participants came from around the territory.

While people from all communities are welcome to visit for the hunt, the kill must be observed from at least 1.5 kilometres away.

Portions of the bowhead's much sought-after maktak will be available Nunavut-wide.

"If a community wants a maktak, all they would have to do is pay for the freight to their community," he said.

Captain Marcel Mapsalak will be directing a group of 15 other hunters.

David Nukik, Laurent Kringayark, and Joe Angotigor have been chosen Mapsalak's first, second, and third mates respectively, and will each be directing one of four boats.

Repulse Bay elder John Kounuk has been chosen as the harpooner.

Also on the hunt will be Mark Tagornak, Larry Tagornak, John Tinashlu, Philip Uttik, Jackie Milortok, Ronnie Milortok, Adam Milortok, Jamie Malliki, and Johnathan Siusangark.

Names of the other four hunters were not available by deadline.

A large shoulder mounted grenade-holding gun is being ordered from overseas, he said, though he didn't have exact details about the weapon. An exploding harpoon will also be used.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is expected to send a representative to train the hunters how to use the grenade gun.

The community will also be making some of its own weapons.