The Bite Magazine - Autmn/Winter 2020 - Issue 28

biteexhibition Arctic Exhibition - Snowmobile - Canada Evenki hunt and herd reindeer across a large part of north-cen- tral Siberia in Russia. At the exhibition, you will see a rein- deer-skin shaman’s cloak decorated with iron and copper plates imbued with spirits for assistance and protection. The shaman would enter a trance state during a ritual and journey to the spirit world by hitting a wooden reindeer-hide drum with a wooden and mammoth ivory beater. Today, many of the Evenki are Christians but incorporate animism and shaman- ism into their practice. In northern Scandinavia and north-west Russia, the Sámi, in- digenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting Sápmi express their identity through traditional clothing. Each community has specific colours, patterns, and designs for apparel, bootstraps, and knives with reindeer-bone handles. An exhibit of a felt outfit of tunic, trousers, and hat worn during the winter was commissioned by a visitor to the area. The Sámi people are pre- dominately associated with reindeer herding, but Sea Sámi rely on hunting and fishing. Yupiit and Inupiat living in the Bering Strait of North Ameri- cas and Greenland share cultural traits like hunting sea mam- mals and caribou (wild reindeer). Parkas made by seamstresses from different Alaskan communities reflect the range of local and traded materials and how these two groups influence one another’s designs. The Yupiit woman’s parka is made from 100 ground squirrel hides and the Inupiat child’s parka from muskrat, beaver, and otter fur. Both hoods are trimmed with wolverine fur. A boat-like Sámi sledge made in the early 20th century in Sweden is an example of the type of transportation designed for specific kinds of snow and ice. It also enables the Sámi to float through the deep powdery snows of Scandinavia. A single male reindeer pulled the birch sledge, and the herders would use the wooden stick, like the one designed by Johan Johans- son Nutti in Karesuando, Sweden for balance and direct the reindeer. Today, Sámi use snowmobiles to transport people and possessions. Seals are a reliable source of food and raw materials for both the Inuit and Chukchi. “We’re from the High Arctic,” explained Inuit seamstress Regilee Ootoova. “We rely on what’s available to us. We rely on seals even today for clothing and food. Our sealing tradition is a whole system.” When seals return to the same breathing holes in the ice throughout the year, hunters lie in wait at these holes. An illustration here shows an Inupiat pulling seal across the ice in the early 20th century. Today, not all Arctic people build or live in igloos but the Inuit people of Northern Canada, who live mostly in wooden hous- es, still occasionally make them while hunting far from home. The men cut large blocks of packed ice using their snow knives, similar to the Inupiat ivory one engraved with a whaling scene. Igloos are built from the inside with each block cut to fit pre- cisely. On completion, a wooden snow shovel is used to fill in the cracks, adding strength and insulation. Many of the inhabitants prefer to get their fresh drinking wa- ter from icebergs, composed of frozen water from glaciers or springs. It is perhaps more sanitary here than in other regions due to the climatic and environmental conditions. On display is a pre-1824 Inuit walrus-ivory straw from Canada that was used for drinking while travelling and a pre-1941 Tunumiit wooden bucket from eastern Greenland that was filled with fresh ice chunks and left to melt. It has an ivory straw fitted into its rim. A beautiful quote by Sheila Watt-Cloutier from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, northern Canada in 2015 sums up life in the Arctic: “To live in a boundless landscape and a close-knit culture in which everything matters and everything is connect- ed is a kind of magic. Like generations of Inuit, I bonded with ice and snow.” Another from Anders Oskal, from the village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino, Norway in 2017 says, “To remain who we are we must continue to eat what we do.” Leonie Qrunnut from Iglulik, Nunavut, in north Canada de- scribes hunting as the giving and receiving of gifts, not the kill- ing of animals. The caribou used to make the pre-1985 hunt- ing outfit on display gave itself willingly to the hunter, who presented the hide and meat to his wife. By sharing the meat