| The Inuit are an Arctic people who inhabit parts of | | | | Many Inuit feel that their traditional diet is superior to |
| Canada, Greenland, Russia, and the United States. | | | | the southern diet. For example they drink seal blood |
| Their diet is based on foods that they hunt, fish, or | | | | said to improve the imbiber's own blood. Their |
| gather. This diet is particularly suited to the challenges | | | | meat-rich diet keeps them warm. Walrus meat is |
| they face in such a difficult climate. | | | | digested extremely slowly. Furthermore, one can eat |
| The major component of the Inuit diet is seal meat. | | | | quite a large amount of walrus meat without getting |
| The seals include harp seal, harbor seal, and ringed | | | | sick. These properties meet the needs of locals who |
| seals. Seals need to breathe air. When they break | | | | may go a long time without any food and then find |
| through the ice to get air they are vulnerable to | | | | themselves a walrus. |
| hunters armed with harpoons. Walrus are usually | | | | Inuit food is mostly eaten frozen, raw, or boiled, with |
| hunted in the winter and spring. Because of their | | | | very little mixture of ingredients and with very few |
| great size the walrus hunt is a group effort. A | | | | spices. Inuit only eat two main meals a day, but |
| mature Bowhead whale may weigh over 150 tons. | | | | snacking is very common. Many hunters eat their |
| That's a lot of blubber. One such whale can feed a | | | | prey in the place they found it. Traditionally no fish |
| community for almost a year. The young whales are | | | | could be cooked and eaten where caught. So the |
| safer to hunt than the adults and are said to have | | | | choice was to eat it raw or cook it in a location at |
| tastier skin. The harpoon is the preferred weapon for | | | | least a day's march away from the fishing site. At |
| Bowhead whale hunting. | | | | mealtime Inuit place chunks of food on a piece of |
| Caribou are often speared but they may also be | | | | metal, plastic, or cardboard on the floor. Hungry |
| forced into the river. These animals provide clothing, | | | | people serve themselves. |
| shelter, and tools as well as food. The caribou/wild | | | | After a hunt the hunters are served first; not |
| reindeer is the species of choice for anthropologists | | | | surprisingly they are cold and hungry. Their first |
| studying hunting among traditional peoples. The Inuit | | | | choices are liver and blood. Another delicacy is brain |
| consume sculpin, artic cod, and other saltwater fish. | | | | mixed with seal fat. The women and children eat |
| They capture these fish by a process called jigging | | | | afterwards. Their item of choice is the intestines and |
| that involves an artificial fish and a spear. Hunting and | | | | any remaining liver. The Inuit are known for sharing |
| fishing are becoming lost arts in many Inuit | | | | their food within the entire community. Food is |
| communities. The cause is partly social and partly | | | | considered communal property. |
| economic. | | | | |