Reindeer hunting in Greenland is of great importance to the
Greenlandic Inuit
The Greenlandic Inuit or sometimes simply the Greenlandic are an ethnic group and nation Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous to Greenland, where they constitute the largest ethnic population. They share a common #History, ancestry, ...
and sports hunters, both residents and tourists.
[Trophy hunting in Greenland]
Greenland Tourist Bureau. Retrieved 2010-17-12 Reindeer (caribou) are an important source of meat, and harvesting them has always played an important role in the history, culture, and traditions of the Greenlandic Inuit. Controlled hunting is important for the
welfare
Welfare may refer to:
Philosophy
*Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group
* Utility in utilitarianism
* Value in value theory
Economics
* Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...
of reindeer, the
quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
for
Inuit
Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
, both as food, and part of
their culture and
Greenlandic culture in general, and the preservation of
tundra
In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...
grazing areas. Therefore, scientific research is regularly performed to determine the quotas needed to maintain a proper
ecological balance.
Background
Reindeer hunting by humans has a very long history and caribou/wild reindeer "may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entire anthropological literature on hunting."
["In North America and Eurasia the species has long been an important resource–in many areas ''the'' most important resource–for peoples inhabiting the northern boreal forest and tundra regions. Known human dependence on caribou/wild reindeer has a long history, beginning in the Middle Pleistocene (Banfield 1961:170; Kurtén 1968:170) and continuing to the present....The caribou/wild reindeer is thus an animal that has been a major resource for humans throughout a tremendous geographic area and across a time span of tens of thousands of years." Ernest S. Burch, Jr]
The Caribou/Wild Reindeer as a Human Resource.
''American Antiquity'', Vol. 37, No. 3 (Jul., 1972), pp. 339-368. Retrieved 2010-17-12
In Greenland, wild reindeer have been hunted as a source of food, clothing, shelter, and tools by the Inuit - the indigenous peoples that populate the
Arctic
The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
and colder regions. Methods that they have employed include
crossbow
A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...
,
bow and arrow
The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elasticity (physics), elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles (arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the ...
,
snares,
driving
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. A driver's permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met, and drivers are required to ...
,
trapping pit
Trapping pits are deep pits dug into the ground, or built from stone, in order to trap animals.
European rock drawings and cave paintings reveal that bear, moose and wolf were hunted since the Stone Age using trapping pits. Remains of trapping ...
s, driving them off cliffs or into lakes and then spearing them from
kayak
]
A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...
s, and now using modern firearms. The entire reindeer, including fur,
Rawhide (textile), skin,
antler
Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) Family (biology), family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally fo ...
s, and bones have been used. Their meat,
viscera
In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...
, internal organs, and even stomach contents, have all been utilized as food, both raw,
dried,
smoked, and cooked. Today reindeer are primarily hunted by residents and tourists for their meat, but mature animals may also be the objects of
trophy hunting
Trophy hunting is a form of hunting for field sports, sport in which parts of the hunted wild animals are kept and displayed as trophies. The animal being targeted, known as the "game (hunting), game", is typically a mature male specimen from a p ...
because of the often large size of their antlers. They have the largest antlers relative to body size among deer.
[New World Deer (Capriolinae)]
Retrieved 2010-17-12
In Greenland more reindeer are harvested than any other
big game land
mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
species.
Reindeer meat is an important
staple in most households, and the populace waits with great anticipation for the autumn hunting season to begin. It is an opportunity to stock up the kitchen pantry and freezer with meat for the coming season and to enjoy the adventure of the hunt.
Game harvesting conditions in Greenland can be extreme, and the unpredictable
forces of nature can be hazardous to hunters. Greenland is large and long with differing hunting customs and
regulations
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...
, as well as weather patterns, depending on the region and season. The Greenland wilderness is sensitive and hunters are expected to respect it and "
leave nothing but footprints."
Inuit identity: hunting and reindeer
Cultural status of the hunting experience
Hunting has always been an extremely important aspect of the Greenland Inuit culture:
: "The Inuit culture is the most pure hunting culture in existence. Having adapted to the extreme living conditions in the High Arctic of the
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
n
continent
A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...
for at least four thousand years, Inuit are not even
hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...
s. Inuit are hunters, pure and simple." (
Henriette Rasmussen, Minister in
Greenland Home Rule Government)
[Rasmussen H]
Sustainable Greenland and Indigenous Ideals.
Henriette Rasmussen, Minister of Culture, Education, Science and Church of the Government of Greenland. Retrieved 2010-17-12
Even today hunting's importance is confirmed by the Greenland Home Rule Government:
: "Hunting is the heart and soul of Greenlandic culture.... Hunting is also very important from a cultural perspective. In a society such as Greenland, which for centuries was based on
subsistence
A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing and shelter) rather than to the market.
Definition
"Subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself and family at a minimum level. Basic subsiste ...
hunting (until about fifty years ago), hunting is still of great cultural importance. Irrespective of the fact that most live like wage-earners in a modern industrial society, many Greenlanders identity is still deeply rooted in the hunting."
[Hunting in Greenland.]
- Greenland Home Rule Government.
Reindeer hunting has a special status in the populace. Shooting a
muskox
The muskox (''Ovibos moschatus'') is a hoofed mammal of the family Bovidae. Native to the Arctic, it is noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males during the seasonal rut, from which its name derives. This musky odor ha ...
provides four times as much meat as a reindeer, but "Greenlanders would much rather have caribou or reindeer meat than musk ox meat," says Josefine Nymand.
[Caribou and muskoxen are meat and adventure.]
- The Danish-Greenlandic Environmental Cooperation.
: "... the experience is just as important
s the meat It is simply the most wonderful part of the year. The trips in for the caribou hunt in the beautiful autumn weather have a great social and physical meaning for people's wellbeing. It has many functions." (Peter Nielsen, Head of Office at the Ministry of Environment and Nature)
Inuit welfare and hunting culture
The long history of
mutual dependence between humans and reindeer
necessitates continuing efforts to safeguard their relationship and the welfare of both parties. Reindeer hunting – which is also commonplace in many other parts of the world – is considered so vital to the
cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...
of certain groups that there is an attempt
[Reindeer hunting as world heritage: A ten-thousand-year-long heritage.]
- Reindeer hunting as world heritage. Retrieved 2010-17-12[About the project.]
- Reindeer hunting as world heritage. Retrieved 2010-17-12[Børge Brende to chair the World Heritage.]
- Reindeer hunting as world heritage. Retrieved 2010-17-12 being made to get it placed on
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
's
World Heritage List
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
.
[UNESCO's World Heritage List.]
- UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Retrieved 2010-17-12
The identity of the Inuit is closely tied to the geography, history and the attitudes toward hunting – "For Inuit,
ecology
Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...
, hunting and culture are synonymous."
[Wenzel G. "''Animal Rights, Human Rights: Ecology, Economy and Ideology in the Canadian Arctic''" (1991).] – and their identity as hunters is under attack. Those attacks are "... viewed in the Arctic as a direct assault on culture, identity as well as sustainable use,"
[Ethics and morality.]
- Dept. of Economic Development and Transportation, Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...
Territory and Inuit are reacting:
: "... for the Inuit,
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
campaigns are just the latest in a long litany of religious, industry, and government policies imposed by outsiders – policies which ignore Inuit
values
In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of some thing or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live ( normative ethics), or to describe the significance of different a ...
and realities, and threaten the survival of one of the world's last remaining
aboriginal hunting cultures."
[Alan Herscovici]
Forgotten Story: The impact of "animal-rights" campaigns on the Inuit.
- National Council for Science and the Environment
The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) is a U.S.-based nonpartisan, non-profit organization which has a mission to improve the scientific
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the for ...
Therefore, the
circumpolar peoples
Circumpolar peoples and Arctic peoples are umbrella terms for the various indigenous peoples of the Arctic region.
Approximately four million people are resident in the Arctic, among which 10 percent are indigenous peoples belonging to a vast nu ...
and their organizations are actively engaged in attempts to protect their welfare, identity, interests, and culture, including their hunting culture. The "
Kuujjuaq
Kuujjuaq (; or ), formerly known as (ᓲᐃᕙᐅᖃᔾ) and by #Names, other names, is a former Hudson's Bay Company outpost at the mouth of the Koksoak River on Ungava Bay that has become the largest northern village (Quebec), northern vil ...
Declaration"
[The Kuujjuaq Declaration.]
- Inuit Circumpolar Conference addressed perceived attacks on their autonomy and
rights
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
, and recommended that the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (now the
Inuit Circumpolar Council) "undertake a comprehensive study on how best to address global forces, such as the 'animal rights' and other destructive movements that aim to destroy Inuit sustainable use of living resources, and to report back to the next General Assembly on its findings."
[Kuujjuaq Declaration:]
Proceedings of ICC's 9th General Assembly, 11–16 August 2002. Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Canada) The
International Arctic Science Committee
The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC)is a non-governmental, international scientific organization. IASC was founded in 1990 by representatives of national scientific organizations of the eight Arctic countries - Canada, Denmark, Finla ...
shares these viewpoints and therefore one of its objectives is to study the "sustainable use of living resources of high value to Arctic residents."
[Objectives of International Arctic Science Committee.]
- ProClim: Forum for Climate and Global Change; Forum of the Swiss Academy of Sciences
Reindeer welfare, sustainability, and quotas
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
s and other research scientists constantly monitor the welfare, living conditions, and health of reindeer, as well as the
ecological health
Ecological health is a term that has been used in relation to both human health and the condition of the environment.
* In medicine, ecological health has been used to refer to multiple chemical sensitivity, which results from exposure to synthet ...
of their habitat, and they make recommendations and set quotas designed to ensure that game resources and natural
biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
are protected, managed, and maintained.
[Scientists elsewhere do the same thing: "To guarantee rational use of this population and meet interests of both Taimyr and Evenki Autonomous Areas, federal bodies are responsible for fixing science-substantiated quotas for wild reindeer hunting." ][Christine Cuyler]
Appendix B: Greenland Caribou / Reindeer.
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources[L. Christine Cuyler & Lars Witting]
Caribou harvest advice 2006.
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources Many factors, some of them difficult to measure or predict, are analyzed including natural cycles,
parasite
Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...
s, disease, short-term weather conditions (relative harshness of winter or summer), long-term
climate change
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
s, and condition of food sources. Hunting is not the only factor affecting reindeer welfare, but it is one area that can be managed to some degree.
Since reindeer in southwestern Greenland have no naturally occurring non-human
predator
Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...
s,
[Christine Cuyler]
Appendix B: Greenland Caribou / Reindeer.
"The primary distribution, 74 percent of total abundance, is in West Greenland (61°-69°N), which may by roughly identified as the southern half of Greenland's west coast. No wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...
(''Canis lupus'') or other potential predators (non-human) have existed in West Greenland for at least the last few hundred years." - Greenland Institute of Natural Resources[Cuyler, ''et al'']
Status of two West Greenland Caribou populations 2005.
"Caribou (''Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus'') have no natural predators in WestGreenland, and none have existed for several hundred years (Dawes et al. 1986). When combined with their high fertility (Cuyler & Østegaard 2005) and recruitment (Cuyler et al. 2002, 2003, 2004), this would suggest that overabundance may be their greatest threat. Several boom and crash cycles of caribou in West Greenland have been noted since the 1700s (Vibe 1967, Meldgaard 1986), and recent population estimates are the highest ever documented, indicating that a new crash might be expected in the near future." - Technical Report No. 61, 2005. Greenland Institute of Natural Resources harvesting quotas are established to help
regulate
Regulate may refer to:
* Regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly diff ...
the number of reindeer in an area and prevent
overgrazing
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...
and death from starvation. During the winter, the great effort of
pawing down (known as "cratering")
["In the winter, the fleshy pads on these toes grow longer and form a tough, hornlike rim. Caribou use these large, sharp-edged hooves to dig through the snow and uncover the lichens that sustain them in winter months. Biologists call this activity "cratering" because of the crater-like cavity the caribou's hooves leave in the snow." - Project Caribou][Image of reindeer cratering in snow]
/ref> through the snow to their favorite food, a lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...
known as reindeer moss
''Cladonia rangiferina'', also known as reindeer cup lichen, reindeer lichen (cf. Swedish language, Sw. ''renlav'') or grey reindeer lichen, is a light-coloured fruticose lichen, fruticose, Cladonia, cup lichen species in the family Cladoniaceae. ...
, can cost them too many calorie
The calorie is a unit of energy that originated from the caloric theory of heat. The large calorie, food calorie, dietary calorie, kilocalorie, or kilogram calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one liter o ...
s in expended energy, causing them to lose strength and die.[Bror Saitton]
Sammendrag av foredrag ved NORs 12. nordiske forskningskonferanse om rein og reindrift.
- Nordic Council for Reindeer Husbandry Research (NOR)
- UPI
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...
, Dec. 9, 2005. PhysOrg.com[Reindeer hunting in Greenland.]
- PITU, no. 1, September 2002, pp. 15-16. Grønlands Naturinstitut (Nature Institute of Greenland). Without human monitoring and regulation, mass starvation of reindeer would be a recurring problem.
Harvesting recommendations are also based on other prognostic factors, among them estimates of reindeer population density, total population in various regions, and availability of adequate food sources.[Interesting demo programs for estimating populations. - Taiga Net, operated by the Arctic Borderlands Ecological Knowledge Society] Since these estimates are difficult to make and can vary over time for each region, the recommendations and quotas are constantly adapted to the local needs, sometimes quite radically. Historically, Greenland's reindeer population has fluctuated widely. For example, it numbered around 100,000 in the early 1970s and then was believed to have dropped to about 9,000 in 1993.[Baldursson S]
Living Terrestrial Resources of the Arctic and Their Use.
- Snorri Baldursson, Assistant Director General, Icelandic Institute of Natural History, University of the Arctic Hunting regulations reflected these mistaken and hotly debated estimates and harvesting was suspended from the summer of 1993 until the autumn of 1995, whereupon hunting was once again allowed.[Grønlandske fugle, havpattedyr og landpattedyr - en status over vigtige ressourcer]
1. oktober 1998. Teknisk rapport nr. 16, oktober 1998. Pinngortitaleriffik, Grønlands Naturinstitut
The controversial suspension of hunting in 1993-1995 "created much public anger." Hunters' local knowledge contradicted the official estimates and a survey in 2000-2001 confirmed the hunters' claims that there were far more animals to be harvested. Quotas were then radically increased and the hunting season was lengthened: "In an effort to reduce caribou number and density, open harvests were continued in 2003, 2004 and 2005."
In 2005, improved counting methods revealed that the previous estimates had indeed been misleading and that the population density was far too high, with 3-4 caribou per km2, rather than the preferred 1.2 per km2. In 2006 the number of reindeer was estimated to be more than 100,000, which was still too many animals.[The propagation of reindeer in Greenland.]
- Greenland Tourism and Business Council A constant concern is that overpopulation can lead to increased mortality of calves, damage to feeding grounds, and a population crash:
:"Independent of climate and genetics, caribou calf mortality increases with high population density and grazing pressure.... er-abundance of caribou on the range may be a current problem, which may soon become an acute problem. Unfortunately, it is unknown how much longer the present range can continue to support the current caribou numbers. If the herds are allowed to continue status quo or increase further there is a clear risk of lasting damage to ranges. If the ranges are destroyed, caribou stocks can be expected to crash.
Scientists and hunters continue to work together for the best good of all concerned parties: the reindeer, the hunters, the general populace of Greenland, and the very sensitive and vulnerable range grounds, since Greenland's tundra is more sensitive than elsewhere in the Arctic due to the ever-present inland ice sheet. This ice sheet acts like an open refrigerator door, stunting the growth of vegetation along the coastal regions and making recovery a slow process.
Reindeer
Reindeer (or caribou)[Identity card for ''Rangifer'' (Reindeer/Caribou).]
One species, 9 subspecies (three of which are in Greenland). (also called ''tuttu'' by the Greenlandic Inuit[Jerry McCarthy]
Greenlandic word list.
Reindeer are called ''tuttu'' (pl ''tuttut'') by Greenland Inuit. and ''rensdyr'' or ''rener'' by Danes
Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
History
Early history
Denmark ...
) are the only deer
A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
species in which both sexes have antler
Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) Family (biology), family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally fo ...
s. Greenland animals can vary considerably in size, with females weighing up to 90 kg (198 lb) and the males ("bulls") 150 kg (331 lb). Other species of reindeer can be larger or smaller. In Greenland both sexes may be hunted. Although they have antlers, they rarely use them against humans, even when backed into a corner by the Sami people
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
who herd, milk, and slaughter them for food in other lands. Their usual defense against humans is to pull away or flee, often uphill. Males use their antlers when sparring
Sparring is a form of training common to many combat sports. It can encompass a range of activities and techniques such as punching, kicking, grappling, throwing, wrestling or submission work dependent on style. Although the precise form varies, ...
against each other, and reindeer may use them as a last resort to defend themselves and their young against predators such as wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...
,[Dawes, Elander, Ericso]
The Wolf (Canis lupus) in Greenland: A Historical Review and Present Status.
Peter R. Dawes, Magnus Elander and Mats Ericson. ''Arctic'', vol. 39, no. 2 (June 1986) p. 119-132 although wolves present no threat in southwestern Greenland. Although rarely aggressive toward humans, when in rut bulls will defend their harems from other bulls, and when humans come between a bull and his harem, attacks have been recorded.[Attack reindeer loses antlers.]
''BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
'', 29 September 2002
Tame reindeer are known to be curious, but even wild reindeer can be curious in some situations.[Jeremy Schmidt]
Reindeer round-up - life of nomads who herd reindeer in Mongolia.
- ''Ranger Rick'', March, 1995
br
/ref>["A yearling, or one-year-old, in the fall still has a rather small body compared to the adults and can be exceptionally curious." , Unit 1: Awareness and Appreciation]
/ref> The wild reindeer is a shy animal and it reacts very quickly to sudden sounds or movements as well as the smell of strangers.[The Greenlandic reindeer.]
- Greenland Tourism and Business Council In spite of this, inexperienced animals may even approach quite closely to a hunter and curiously observe while the hunter is field dressing a downed animal. They have good hearing and a good sense of smell, but have poor eyesight. They may react to a hunter's movements, but not necessarily to his form if he doesn't move.["Sight and sound are less important senses for caribou when assessing danger. Sometimes caribou appear not to be disturbed by people who are standing still. However, caribou are very good at detecting movement, even in poor light...Caribou are more curious than other North American deer species. If they haven't been able to verify something as having the scent of danger, they will often move closer to investigate it." - Project Caribou] Under the right conditions, a stealthy hunter may be able to approach surprisingly close to a reindeer, even when the hunter is in full sight of the animal. Many animals are shot at relatively close range (10–50 meters).
Three subspecies in Greenland
Three subspecies of reindeer live in western Greenland where some interbreeding
In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different varieties, subspecies, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Generally, it means that each cell has genetic material from two di ...
has occurred:
# The most common variety of reindeer in Greenland is the native wild barren-ground caribou
The barren-ground caribou (''Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus''; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision) is a subspecies of the reindeer (or the caribou in North America) that is found in the Canadian territories of Nunavut and the Northwest ...
(''Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus''), which is a medium-sized race of reindeer also found in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
# The second type are the feral
A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...
(semi-domestic
Domestic may refer to:
In the home
* Anything relating to the human home or family
** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication
** A domestic appliance, or home appliance
** A domestic partnership
** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...
) mountain reindeer (''Rangifer tarandus tarandus''), brought from Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
in 1952. They are larger and were first introduced at a game reserve
A game reserve (also known as a game park) is a large area of land where wild animals are hunted in a controlled way for sport. If hunting is prohibited, a game reserve may be considered a nature reserve; however, the focus of a game reserve ...
in the Kapisillit region of Godthåb's fjord
In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
. Their care was the responsibility of Sami
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...
herders[Fakta om Grønland (facts about Greenland]
Erhverv og næringsliv: Fiskeri, fangst og jagt.
- Nordens Institut i Grønland who also controlled their harvesting and the meat preparation in a now-abandoned slaughterhouse at Itinnera.
- Arktiske Billeder: Siulleq[Ole Holbech]
Itinnera images, 1976
/ref> "Later animals from Kapisillit were released at several more locations to establish feral populations, which might support a hunting harvest. There is evidence for genetic mixing of native caribou and feral reindeer at some of the locations where reindeer were released."[Jepsen B.I.; Siegismund H.R.; Fredholm M]
Population genetics of the native caribou (''Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus'') and the semi-domestic reindeer (''Rangifer tarandus tarandus'') in Southwestern Greenland: Evidence of introgression.
- ''Conservation Genetics'', Volume 3, Number 4, 2002, pp. 401-409(9) The Isortoq Reindeer Station received Norwegian Reindeer from the Itinnera breeding stock in 1973 and located a 2000 head herd on a 1500 km square concession area. The company had its own abattoir and processing plant (now closed) and annually exported meat to the EU and N. America.
# A third type of reindeer may possibly belong to the Peary caribou
The Peary caribou (''Rangifer arcticus pearyi'') is a subspecies of caribou found in the Canadian high Arctic islands of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories in Canada. They are the smallest of the North American caribou, with the females wei ...
subspecies (''Rangifer tarandus pearyi''). They are smaller and fewer in number and live in northwestern Greenland.[Greffard MC]
Peary Caribou (''Rangifer tarandus pearyi'')
- McGill University, December 2000
Reindeer hunting
Practical details
Two main types of hunters are involved in harvesting reindeer: licensed commercial hunters and private resident sporting hunters, with tourists, trophy hunter
Trophy hunting is a form of hunting for sport in which parts of the hunted wild animals are kept and displayed as trophies. The animal being targeted, known as the "game", is typically a mature male specimen from a popular species of collectable ...
s, and research scientists harvesting a few more animals.
Transportation to and from hunting areas is nearly always done by boat. The rest of the transportation is by foot
The foot (: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is an organ at the terminal part of the leg made up o ...
. If the hunting area is far inland, it may involve carrying equipment to a lake, and then transporting it across the lake to a campsite using a smaller type of boat, such as a rowboat, canoe
A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles.
In British English, the term ' ...
(including collapsible models), or a rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds.
Types of polyisoprene ...
inflatable boat
An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and Bow (watercraft), bow made of Inflatable, flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and Hull (watercraft), hull are often flexible, while for ...
. Some lakes have boats permanently left (or hidden in the bushes) near the shores, and they are sometimes used by hunters (not necessarily the owners) who frequent the area.
In 2006 the only hunting weapon
Hunting weapons are weapons designed or used primarily for hunting game animals for food or sport, as distinct from defensive weapons or weapons used primarily in warfare.
Characteristics
Since human beings are lacking in the natural weapons po ...
s allowed for reindeer harvesting were bolt action
Bolt action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the turn-bolt via a bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (as most users are right-handed). The majority of b ...
, non-automatic
Automatic may refer to:
Music Bands
* Automatic (Australian band), Australian rock band
* Automatic (American band), American rock band
* The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band
Albums
* ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 el ...
rifles, using .222 Remington caliber
In guns, particularly firearms, but not #As a measurement of length, artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge ( ...
cartridges or larger.[Lars Bjørknæs]
Grønlands lovsamling 2006.
- Hjemmestyrets bekendtgørelse nr. 18 af 18. juli 1995 om fredning af og jagt på rensdyr. A good, large rifle scope is important, as shots at longer distances may be necessary, and visibility may be poor because of snowfall, fog, or limited lighting levels. Folding or fixed-blade hunting knives
A knife (: knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...
are necessary for many purposes. Binoculars
Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...
with large objective diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the centre of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest Chord (geometry), chord of the circle. Both definitions a ...
are used to spot prey at great distances, sometimes in waning light.
Rifles (both bolt action and semi-automatic) of other calibers, shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...
s, and other types of weapons may be used for other game such as ptarmigan
''Lagopus'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans (). The genus contains four living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas.
Taxonomy and etymology
The genus ''L ...
, Arctic hare
The Arctic hare (''Lepus arcticus'') is a species of hare highly adapted to living in the Arctic tundra and other icy biomes. The Arctic hare survives with shortened ears and limbs, a small nose, fat that makes up close to 20% of its body, and a ...
s, and Arctic fox
The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small species of fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Tundra#Arctic tundra, Arctic tundra biome. I ...
es, which are often encountered during a reindeer hunt.
Regulations and hunting licenses
Harvesting is governed by regulations and requires a hunting license
A hunting license or hunting permit is a regulation, regulatory or law, legal mechanism to control hunting, both commercial and recreational. A license specifically made for game hunting, recreational hunting is sometimes called a game license ...
indicating the number of animals to be harvested, as well as post-hunting reporting of results (a jawbone with teeth). Such licenses can be obtained by those who have established two years of residency. Special arrangements are made for tourists and trophy hunters. Information can be sought and licenses obtained (by application and payment) from the local municipality.
Airplanes, helicopters, and other motorized vehicles (such as snowmobile
A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow.
Their engines normally ...
s),[Rensdyrjagt fra snescooter er forbudt.]
Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa, Greenland National Broadcasting Company, 11. February 2007 are not allowed to be used for hunting or land transport of animals or hunters. Boats are allowed for transport to and from hunting areas. A lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
identification tag must be attached to the carcass until it is sold or used. The meat is owned by the hunter and no extra fees are charged for it.
In 2006 the open season extended from August 10 - September 15. In exceptional cases the dates can be changed, for example periods of bad weather and too much ice, resulting in a lengthening of the season.[Forlængelse af jagtperiode]
/ref> Winter hunting is an option for those specially licensed as commercial hunters (normally reserved for Inuit residents).
Game preparation and transport
Once downed, a reindeer is quickly field dressed by removing the viscera
In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...
. The skin, head, and viscera are often discarded and left for consumption by foxes, raven
A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...
s, and other bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s. The meat is kept cool to minimize decomposition and protected from blow-flies by the use of mesh game bags, and any fly eggs (very visible) and maggot
A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, hoverflies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and cr ...
s are removed immediately.[Willy Zimmer]
The tough stuff.
- ''Casper Star-Tribune'', September 23, 2004, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation[Marty Prokop]
How to Field Dress a Deer
/ref> The cool climate makes it possible for the meat to be kept out in the open longer than in warmer climates, therefore a hunting expedition can last several days without a serious loss of meat quality. Once home again, the meat can be hung and aged for a few days before further processing.[E. Dan Klepper]
Hang'em High.
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, November 2005
Carrying a reindeer over a long distance in rugged mountainous terrain can be difficult and very strenuous. More than five kilometers each way is not uncommon. If the animal is very large, it may only be possible to transport one half at a time. In Greenland, reindeer meat is commonly carried over the shoulders,
br
br
Images showing transportation of meat
possibly tied to a backpack
A backpack, also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, pack, booksack, bookbag, haversack, packsack, or backsack, is in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders; b ...
frame, or carried on the back with support from a headband
A headband or hairband is a clothing accessory worn in the hair or around the forehead, usually to hold hair away from the face or eyes. Headbands generally consist of a loop of elastic material or a horseshoe-shaped piece of flexible plast ...
, the last being a method preferred by the Inuit. Unskinned game may also be dragged on snow, or allowed to slide down steep, snow-covered hillsides, thus saving much work and freeing the hands for support while climbing downhill.
Hunting methods
There are several hunting strategies
Hunting strategy or hunting method is any specific techniques or tactics that are used to target, pursue, and hunt an animal. The term mostly applies to humans catching and killing wild animals, but can also be used in ethology and nature docume ...
that can be used for harvesting reindeer:
* Asking is seeking the advice of an experienced reindeer hunter.
* Scouting
Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...
is a variety of tasks and techniques for finding reindeer to hunt.
* Glassing is the use of optical instruments (such as binoculars) to locate animals more easily.
* Blind or stand hunting is waiting where reindeer are likely to travel.
* Camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
hunting is concealing oneself visually to blend in with the environment, for example using a white anorak
A parka, like the related anorak, is a type of coat with a hood, that may be lined with fur or fake fur. Parkas and anoraks are staples of Inuit clothing, traditionally made from caribou or seal skin, for hunting and kayaking in the frigid A ...
in snowy weather.
* Still hunting is the practice of walking stealthily in search of animals.
* Stalking
Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitorin ...
is the practice of walking stealthily in pursuit of identified animals.
* Tracking
Tracking may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* Tracking, in computer graphics, in match moving (insertion of graphics into footage)
* Tracking, composing music with music tracker software
* Eye tracking, measuring the position of ...
is interpreting and following physical evidence in the pursuit of animals.
* Drive hunting is flushing reindeer toward other hunters.
Note
Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to:
Music and entertainment
* Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music
* ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian
* ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versi ...
: ''Loose dogs, dog driving, and coursing
Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, ...
are not allowed in Greenland.''
Hunting conditions in Greenland
A reindeer hunt can be a short afternoon outing without much equipment, or a week-long affair with all the equipment that such an endeavor requires. New hunters may experience a form of culture shock
Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration ...
Colin Fletcher
Colin Fletcher (14 March 1922 – 12 June 2007) was a pioneering backpacker and writer.
In 1963, Fletcher walked the length of that portion of Grand Canyon contained within the 1963 boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. Although hi ...
, in '' The Complete Walker'' the first time they enter the wilderness, and may require mental acclimatization
Acclimatization or acclimatisation ( also called acclimation or acclimatation) is the process in which an individual organism adjusts to a change in its environment (such as a change in altitude, temperature, humidity, photoperiod, or pH), ...
when returning to civilization. It may feel like a fleeting period of mental confusion
In psychology, confusion is the quality or emotional state of being bewildered or unclear. The term "acute mental confusion" , similar to the "sea legs" felt by inexperienced boaters.
Reindeer harvesting can be done in groups or alone, with lone hunting generally requiring extra safety precautions. While reindeer harvesting is usually a pleasant experience and the following problems may never be encountered, it can also be exhausting and does entail some degree of safety risk. Good hygiene and adequate hydration can protect against infection
An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...
s, diarrhea
Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...
, and gastroenteritis
Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...
. A small first aid
First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...
kit should be carried when away from the campsite or boat, and preparations should be made for the various hazards of outdoor recreation. The terrain can be hilly, mountainous, uneven, and stony, with hidden crevices or holes. It may also be marsh
In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...
y, muddy, and wet. It may be necessary to cross streams and rivers, and slippery rocks present a hazard. If there is snow and ice, there can be cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...
s, crevasse
A crevasse is a deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rate ...
s, and avalanche
An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...
s, although snow can make it easier to spot and track reindeer.
The weather during the beginning of the autumn hunting season is often pleasant, relatively warm, and mild, but it can change very quickly. Hunters may encounter fog, rain, wind, and winter conditions. Occasionally the situation can quickly approach a worst-case scenario
A worst-case scenario is a concept in risk management wherein the planner, in planning for potential disasters, considers the most severe possible outcome that can reasonably be projected to occur in a given situation. Conceiving of worst-case sc ...
with events such as katabatic wind
A katabatic wind (named ) is a downslope wind caused by the flow of an elevated, high-density air mass into a lower-density air mass below under the force of gravity. The spelling catabatic is also used. Since air density is strongly dependent o ...
s, storms, snow, hail
Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...
, sleet, freezing rain
Freezing rain is rain maintained at temperatures below melting point, freezing by the ambient air mass that causes freezing on contact with surfaces. Unlike rain and snow mixed, a mixture of rain and snow or ice pellets, freezing rain is made en ...
, blizzard
A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...
s, and polar cyclone
A polar vortex, more formally a circumpolar vortex, is a large region of cold, rotating air; polar vortices encircle both of Earth's Polar regions of Earth, polar regions. Polar vortices also exist on other rotating, low-Axial tilt, obliquity P ...
s, even in the late summer. Lack of preparation can have fatal consequences.
Using a compass in Greenland involves accounting for a very extreme[On October 11, 2015, the ]magnetic declination
Magnetic declination (also called magnetic variation) is the angle between magnetic north and true north at a particular location on the Earth's surface. The angle can change over time due to polar wandering.
Magnetic north is the direction th ...
between the North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
and Nuuk
Nuuk (; , formerly ) is the capital and most populous city of Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the territory's largest cultural and economic center. It is also the seat of gove ...
was "27° 49' W ± 0° 33' changing by 0° 22' E per year", calculated with NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea exploratio ...
'
Magnetic Field Calculators
National Geophysical Data Center
The United States National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) provided scientific stewardship, products and services for geophysical data describing the solid earth, marine, and solar-terrestrial environment, as well as earth observations from spac ...
. magnetic declination
Magnetic declination (also called magnetic variation) is the angle between magnetic north and true north at a particular location on the Earth's surface. The angle can change over time due to polar wandering.
Magnetic north is the direction th ...
. Failure to calculate correctly can send a hunter in the wrong direction, leading to complete loss of bearings. Getting lost in bad weather can waste precious time, forcing the hunter to overnight in very wet, cold, and unpleasant conditions. Hypothermia
Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe ...
can further complicate matters and decrease the hunter's ability to think clearly, causing them to lose their bearings even more. A fight for survival
Survival or survivorship, the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things ...
may then ensue. Deaths are relatively rare, but they do happen.
See also
* Arctic Council
The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic region. At present, eight countries exercise sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic ...
* Deer hunting
Deer hunting is hunting deer for meat and sport, and, formerly, for producing Buckskin (leather), buckskin hides, an activity which dates back tens of thousands of years. Venison, the name for deer meat, is a nutritious and natural food sourc ...
* International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation
* Nujalik, the Inuit goddess of hunting on land
* Polar bear hunting
* Tekkeitsertok, an Inuit god of hunting and the master of caribou
Notes and references
Notes
References
* Muus, B., F. Salomonsen and C. Vibe, 1990. ''Grønlands fauna (Fisk, Fugle, Pattedyr''). Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S København, 464 p. (in Danish).
Dr. Christine Cuyler
- Research scientist, reindeer expert, extensive list of publications
Peoples of the Reindeer.
- Michel Bouchard, University of the Arctic. (.pdf file)
External links
Hunting, Herding, Fishing, and Gathering: Indigenous Peoples and Renewable Resource Use in the Arctic
- Mark Nuttall, et al.
Human Role in Reindeer Systems
- Rangifer.net (University of Alaska Fairbanks
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-, National Sea Grant College Program, sea-, and National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, space-grant research university in ...
)
Monitoring program: Rangifer as an indicator of change in the circumpolar arctic
- Rangifer.net (U. of Alaska, Fairbanks)
English articles on reindeer
- Greenland Tourism and Business Council website search
* - Yukon Department of Environment
{{Hunting topics
Greenland hunting
Deer hunting
Nature conservation in Greenland
Biota of Greenland
Hunting in Greenland
Culture of Greenland