Although polar bear hunting was restricted in 1973 to Russians, Americans, Norwegians, and Greenlanders with the Multilateral Conservation of Polar Bears Agreement, native Alaskans (Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos) are still allowed to hunt polar bears (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2001). To these native peoples, polar bear population declines are not an issue. Because ice is melting in the northern arctic caps, many polar bears have been forced to move inland towards where the natives are living (Canadian Geographic 2012). As a result, the native peoples physically see more polar bears, and thus they might not know that polar bears are a threatened species. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Alaskans that are at least one-quarter Alaska-Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo may freely hunt polar bears in a non-wasteful manner (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2001).
For these native peoples, the polar bear is the most prized animal to catch. They make warm clothing from the skin of polar bears and both eat and savor the meat. The only part of the polar bear that the native peoples do not use is the liver. Native legend claims that polar bears wish to be killed, in order to obtain the hunting tools offered to their spirits by hunters, which allow their souls to advance into the afterlife (Polar Bears International 2014). Native peoples are neither aware of nor are concerned with the potential extinction of polar bears and are allowed to kill up to 500 polar bears per year in Canada. Because the polar bear is such a prized, revered, and useful animal, the native peoples do not believe that their right to hunt polar bears should be restricted.
For these native peoples, the polar bear is the most prized animal to catch. They make warm clothing from the skin of polar bears and both eat and savor the meat. The only part of the polar bear that the native peoples do not use is the liver. Native legend claims that polar bears wish to be killed, in order to obtain the hunting tools offered to their spirits by hunters, which allow their souls to advance into the afterlife (Polar Bears International 2014). Native peoples are neither aware of nor are concerned with the potential extinction of polar bears and are allowed to kill up to 500 polar bears per year in Canada. Because the polar bear is such a prized, revered, and useful animal, the native peoples do not believe that their right to hunt polar bears should be restricted.
 |
| (National Snow & Ice Data Center 2013) |
Works Cited:
Canadian Geographic. (2012) The truth about polar bears. (Date Accessed: February 17, 2014.)
National Snow & Ice Data Center. (2013) Native People. All about Arctic Climatology and Meteorology. (Date Accessed: February 15, 2014.) http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/arctic-meteorology/arctic-people.html
Polar Bears International. (2014) The Inuit and Polar Bears. (Date Accessed: February 14, 2014.)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2001) Fact Sheet: Hunting and Use of Polar Bear by Alaska Natives (Date Accessed: February 13, 2014.)
0 comments:
Post a Comment