 Inuit narwhal hunting behaviour.
Pond Inlet, narwhals and Inuit
Narwhals and their products have widespread cultural importance for Inuit. The skin (maktaaq), with some attached fat (uqsuq), is the most important food item furnished by narwhal hunting and is often considered a delicacy (Reeves 1992; personal observations). Historically, the narwhal also provided raw materials for domestic use, such as dried sinews for waterproof seams. However, it was the species’ ivory tusk that was the principal object of late 19th and early 20th centuries trade between Inuit and Europeans (Bernier 1909, 1911).
The narwhal is found today in the open water environment of the Eastern Canadian Arctic from early May to late September. The narwhal mainly frequents northwestern Baffin Bay, Lancaster and Jones Sounds, western Foxe Basin, and eastern Barrow Strait (Kingsley et al. 1994; Koski and Davis 1994; Reeves 1992; Richard et al. 1994; Silverman 1979; Smith et al. 1985, Strong 1988). Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik) is the northernmost community on Baffin Island located at 72°41”N, 77°58”W, and is adjacent to the Baffin Bay-Pond Inlet floe-edge (Figure 1). This location was selected for the present study because of its large annual narwhal quota of 100 animals. The area of Inuit-narwhal interaction of direct interest here is the Pond Inlet spring floe-edge (Figure 2). This floe-edge represents a primary habitat that has long provided Mittimatalingmiut (Pond Inlet Inuit) with access to northward migrating narwhals (Kingsley et al. 1994; Koski and Davis 1994; Reeves 1992; Richard et al. 1994; Silverman 1979).
Although the archaeological record is intermittent, it seems that narwhals have been hunted in this region for some two millennia (Savelle 1994). More specifically, it is clear that Mittimatalingmiut have possessed the technology, expertise and ecological knowledge to hunt this species intensively since at least the early 19th century (Mary-Rousselière 1984). Their unique skill developed as a result of their geographic situation (Figure 2) that provides exceptional opportunity to intercept spring-migrating, as well as summering narwhals (Kingsley et al. 1994; Koski and Davis 1994; Richard et al. 1994; Silverman 1979; Smith et al. 1985). More recently, the introduction of modern hunting and transportation technologies (notably high-powered rifles, motor-equipped canoes and snowmobiles) has allowed Mittimatalingmiut to continue to exploit narwhals despite centralization from their former dispersed pattern of settlement to residence in modern Pond Inlet (Brody 1975; Damas 2002; Matthiasson 1967).
Mittimatalingmiut commence narwhal hunting in spring (approximately mid-May) and continue hunting from the floe-edge until break-up (approximately mid-June). In early May, the first narwhals begin to arrive at the eastern floe-edge (Hay 1984; Silverman 1979), and a few hunters, considered by their peers to be particularly adept at floe-edge hunting, begin to seek whales at this time. These hunters often stage their forays onto the sea ice from Button Point (Sannirut) on southwest Bylot Island where there are two community-supported cabins (Figure 2).
By mid-May, the number of narwhal at the eastern floe-edge substantially increases (Hay 1984; Silverman 1979). At this time, the movement pattern of hunters undergoes a shift. While a few individuals continue to camp at Button Point, most hunters now stop there only to rest briefly and to acquire information on floe-edge and weather conditions, narwhal sightings, and camp locations along the floe-edge from other Inuit camped and moving through Button Point. This pattern of proceeding to Button Point before actually beginning operations along the floe-edge continues into early June; by then, whales are present along the entire extent of the floe-edge, except when pack ice jams along the floe.
Human behavioural ecology: mode of foraging
Our study of Inuit hunting behaviour adds to the present literature of human behavioural ecology (HBE; see Winterhalder and Smith 2000) through our analysis of mode of forag