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Native People and Polar Bears

Of all the animals the Inuit traditionally hunted, Nanuk, the polar bear, was the most prized. Native hunters considered Nanuk to be wise, powerful, and "almost a man." Some called the bear "the great lonely roamer."

Many tribes told legends of strange polar-bear men that lived in igloos. These bears walked upright, just like men, and were able to talk. Natives believed they shed their skins in the privacy of their homes.

After killing a bear, the Inuit ate the meat, sucked fatty oil from the bones, and used the fur to make warm trousers for men and kamiks for women. An average polar bear would yield three pairs of trousers and one kamik.

The only part of the bear that was not used was the liver. This was immediately thrown out, as it could make even the sled dogs violently ill.

To pay respect to Nanuk's soul (tatkok), the hunter hung up the skin in an honored place in his igloo for several days. If the bear were male, the hunter provided him with tools such as knives and bow-drills; if female, the bear was offered knives, skin-scrapers, and needlecases.

Native people believed that polar bears allowed themselves to be killed in order to obtain the souls of the tools (tatkoit), which they would take with them into the hereafter.

According to legend, a dead polar bear that was properly treated by a hunter would share the good news with other bears. The animals would then be eager to be killed by such a man while the bears would avoid a hunter who failed to pay respect.

Sources: Adventures in the Arctic by Peter Freuchen (Messner, New York, 1960); The Incredible Eskimo by Raymond de Coccola (Hancock House, Surrey, BC, 1986); Inuk by Roger P. Buliard (Farrar, Straus, New York, 1951); My Life with the Eskimos by Vilhjalmur Stefansson (MacMillan, New York, 1928).

Additional german informations can be found here.

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