ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the harvest of whales by the Iñupiat of northern Alaska, contrasting Iñupiat values around rights to resources with values in Western society around property and ownership. The process of subsistence whale hunting is introduced, along with the language used to describe elements of the hunt. This is linked to expectations around how meat is shared throughout the community and the role that different community members play in contributing to the success of a hunt through correct behaviour, whether in whaling crews or back on land. The belief of the animal giving itself as a gift is highlighted as a result of this correct behaviour. Once the whale has been killed, the processes around distributing meat are discussed, particularly in relation to the summer whaling festival, taking into account the expectations around providing for vulnerable members of the community. A more general discussion of the role of community, reciprocity, and sharing within Iñupiat culture is introduced, situating this in stories from the author’s experiences in the community and in historical context. The author concludes overall that the results of the hunt are about not individual ownership but rather relationality, contrasting this with settler colonial ideals brought up within the chapter’s introduction.
