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These dyed and processed sealskins are the kind of "value-added" products Premier Paul Okalik says the fashion industry is willing to buy.

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Sealskin sales to the U.S.? Okalik is a believer

Premier woos aboriginal people in Alaska for support on changes to MMPA regulations

JIM BELL

When it comes to the economic potential of Nunavut’s seal products, Premier Paul Okalik is a believer.

Okalik is convinced that there are buyers in the United States willing to pay good money for sealskin products made in Nunavut.

"In places like Dallas, there are buyers in the fashion industry interested in value-added sealskin products," Okalik said in a recent interview.

To that end, he’s been working on ways of easing import restrictions under the U.S. Marine Mammals Protection Act.

Regulations set up under the law prevent Canadian Inuit from exporting any marine mammal products to the U.S. — including those made of sealskin.

But fixing that situation isn’t just a simple matter of lobbying the U.S. congress. Aboriginal people in Alaska treasure the MMPA, because they believe it’s one of the few pieces of federal legislation in the U.S. that acknowledges their aboriginal rights.

For that reason, Alaskan Inuit are extremely wary of changing the MMPA.

"For us to make any headway, we have to have the support of Alaska natives," Okalik said. "They should be our natural allies."

So after attending the western premiers’ conference held June 4 to 6 in Dawson City, Yukon, Okalik headed out to Alaska.

He travelled to the city of Anchorage, and to two Arctic communities: Bethel and Barrow.

"I wanted to see if we could find a way to support each other," Okalik said of his meetings with officials at the Alaska Federation of Natives, and other Alaskan aboriginal organizations.

While in Barrow, on Alaska’s North Slope, Okalik received a reminder that the Inupiat of Alaska and the Inuit of Nunavut are the same people. Okalik says he was able to make himself easily understood when he spoke Inuktitut on the local radio station.

Even in Bethel, whose Yupik dialect differs considerably from Canadian Inuktitut, Okalik recognized many words.

"We’re closer to them than you think," Okalik said.

He believes that this kind of bridge-building between Canadian and Alaskan Inuit will help win Alaskan support for what Nunavut now wants: a special exemption under the MMPA for value-added sealskin products.

Nunavut has adopted a strategy of attempting to change U.S. sealskin import restrictions by quietly persuading U.S. officials to change the MMPA’s regulations — but not the MMPA itself.

So far, Okalik says, Alaskan natives are not opposed to this idea.

This avoids the nearly impossible task of persuading the U.S. congress to amend the act, something that could attract the attention of aggressive and well-funded animal rights lobby groups.

Okalik says the next step is to study levels of sealskin harvesting, along with seal population numbers, to provide information in support of Nunavut’s case.

While in Alaska, Okalik also visited the offices of several native corporations, to make them aware of investment opportunities in Nunavut related to mining, oil and gas development, and shipping.

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