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August 16, 2002
Igloolik hunter makes successful
kill in Amittuq bowhead hunt
Traditional bowhead
harpoon kills whale after three shots from bomb gun fail
SARA ARNATSIAQ
The Amittuq Bowhead Hunt
committee successfully harvested a 46-foot bowhead whale approximately 24 kilometres
northeast of Igloolik last Saturday.
Edward Tarparjuk, Secretary-Manager
for the Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Association, said that there were eight
hunters from Hall Beach and eight hunters from Igloolik.
The bowhead was fired at
using a bomb gun four times, but the fourth shot missed the whale. The bowhead
was still alive after it had been hit three times, so it was harpooned with
a traditional bowhead harpoon by Jaypith Palluq, an Igloolik hunter. The harpoon
finally killed it.
The butchering and packaging
has been completed so that the muktaq can be shared with Nunavut communities
that request it from Igloolik and Hall Beach Hunters and Trappers Organizations.
A report of the Amittuq
Bowhead Hunt will be filed by the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board to the Department
of Fisheries and Oceans and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.
Tom Demcheson, acting executive
director of the Qikiqtaaluk Wildlife Board, said he expects the report to be
completed by the end of the month. He does not know yet whether the report will
be made public.
In the meantime, the communities
of Igloolik and Hall Beach are making plans for a community feast to celebrate
the successful bowhead hunt.
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