Resolute (Nov 27/06) - Absalem Idlout is the toast of Resolute right now.

The Grade 11 student at Qarmartalik school recently shot his first polar bear, an important rite of passage and cause for celebration.

While out on a hunt with his father, Resolute's Absalem Idlout took down this polar bear with a .303 rifle. It was the first time he shot a bear. - photo courtesy of Craig Borden

"I was in camp and my dad asked me if I wanted to go hunting and we went, and it didn't take very long for us to catch it," he said matter-of-factly in a telephone interview.

He shot the nine-foot bear with a .303 rifle. The task was made easier because warm weather has enticed several polar bears to come near the hamlet of late.

Absalem and his father, Simon, a renowned hunter in his own right, hauled the bear home and butchered it. Absalem shot caribou before on the occasional hunting trip but "not very often."

Absalem's sister Rhoda, a substitute teacher at the school, was to bring some of the meat in for students and staff to share, said principal Brian Manning.

It'll be a treat for everyone, he said, particularly for the southerners who haven't yet sampled nanuq.

"We have four (southerners) here who have never tasted polar bear," Manning said. "The others who are here have all done so because we've had polar bear at our elders teas."

Manning said everyone at the school is happy for Absalem.

"It's a good thing for him, it's an empowering thing for Absalem, so we're proud of him," Manning said.

He seems to be a young man of few words who's taking all the congratulations in stride.

"After hunting this bear I feel very good," he said.