Inuit hunting aid pays off
Taloyoak woman recalls first bear kill and her trust in traditional practice
Beth Brown
Northern News Services
Monday, January 9, 2017
TALOYOAK
Taloyoak hunter Casie Totalik-Holwell celebrated a milestone with community members at the hamlet Christmas games this year - the harvesting of her first polar bear.
Casie Totalik-Holwell of Taloyoak celebrated her first polar bear catch by offering a prize at the community winter games this Christmas. - photo courtesy of Casie Totalik-Holwell |
The 34-year-old woman offered a prize at the games as a way to give back to the community and show appreciation for the bear. The winner of a dice game received 45 gallons of gasoline.
Although the hunt took place in April, it's customary for hunters and their families to celebrate a first catch at the Christmas games.
Totalik-Holwell recalled the hunt with Nunavut News/North, and shared what the achievement meant to her.
She left for the hunt on a Saturday in late April with her father, husband, a young friend and their dog.
The group headed north-east of the hamlet to Cape Kjer, on the eastern side of the Gulf of Boothia.
"We hunted all day without success. In the morning my dad told me of an Inuit belief that if a hunter was so desperate to catch a bear they would have to find an old bear print in the snow, cut it out and turn it upside down. In doing that a bear would come along."
While her team packed the sleds, Totalik-Holwell went in search of a paw print.
"I found one, so I cut it out and turned it over."
That done, the hunters were ready for another day of searching. They got on their sleds and drove off towards a distant iceberg.
"It took us about 15 minutes to travel towards the iceberg, and then out of nowhere there was a polar bear," she said.
"It's was so surreal, I thought, 'there's my bear.' My mind started to race a thousand miles per second."
The hunters needed to keep the bear from running onto some rough ice nearby where it wasn't safe to follow. So Totalik-Holwell and her father split up on their sleds to keep the bear between them.
She drove faster and faster to catch the large predator.
When the bear was just 100 feet away, it turned and changed directions.
"It came back towards me. I got off the Ski-doo, and I looked at my dad to check and see if it was safe to take a shot."
With his signal, she knew it was OK.
"The bear stopped and looked at me so I took a good aim at its heart. Then the bear started to run but I hit it."
When she looked up, the bear was walking very slow, and it dropped.
"I thought, 'Did I really just get my first bear?'"
Before celebrating, the hunters cautiously checked to see if the bear was dead.
"My father told me it is Inuit tradition that no one is able to touch the bear until the person who shot the bear touches the bear," said Totalik-Holwell. "I heard that and almost cried I was so scared."
She first tapped the bear with the handle of an ice knife.
"Then with my bare hands I hesitatingly touched it."
The team prepared the bear and made the trek - about 13 hours -back to the hamlet.
Totalik-Holwell said she is amazed that the old tradition of turning over a bear print still worked for her today.
"It means a major accomplishment for me in conquering my fear in hunting a top predator, and it also shows that a woman, too, can go and hunt and provide for her family."
The male bear measured 7'8".
The meat was divided among family members and also given as gifts to friends and elders.
Totalik-Holwell is still looking for a buyer for
the hide.
