Normal Diet

In our western world we have inherent bias when we discuss our diets versus foreign ones. We think some of the things other people eat are strange, unappealing, and sometimes even offensive. We are so engrained in our traditional western ways of eating that it is difficult to believe all the diversity in diets present around the world today. However, all different people have a reason they eat the way they do. Through analyzing the Netsilik diet and their way of life, I realized a different perspective and understand why their diet is so “bizarre” to us, but vital to them.

The Netsilik are located around the artic coast of present day Canada, west of The Hudson Bay. They inhabit over 100,000 km of territory that covers between The Committee Bay, Victoria Strait, and Somerset Island. (Jean L. Briggs, 2006) The climate in this region is frigid all year round ranging from -20 degrees in the winter and 47 degrees in the summer on average. (Encyclopædia Britannic, 2016) Consequently, it is critical for them to stay warm to be able to stay alive in the harsh conditions.

They are a community of nomadic hunters who live in small shifting family groups of 5 to 6 people. Each family group combines with 6 to 10 other family groups and hunt as a tribe. They have no legitimate leader or chief and generally govern themselves within their family groups. This creates a culture of sharing their food sources equally and helping each individual live because everyone’s labor is needed in order for the whole group to survive.

They speak in a dialect of Inuktitut, which is derived from the Inuit language. Their name translates to English as “people of the place where the seal is.” Their name explains a large part of their diet, which consists of many different types of game. They hunt a seal, caribou, muskoxen, and even polar bear at times. They also catch a variety of fish in their nearby lakes including salmon, trout, and char. Agriculture is impossible in their geographic location because the soil is not rich because of their hostile climate. (Findlay et al. 2007).

Although in the western world we find that consuming animals like seal and polar bear is odd, the reason behind why they choose to hunt these animals is rooted in their religious traditions. In Netsilik culture, they put every part of their kill to good use and it is significant to them because it shows an animal’s sacrifice to them will not be spoiled. An example of this is when they kill a fresh seal they eat the liver raw and drink its blood on the site of the hunt. They do this to appease their seal goddess and this is religiously important to them because it suggest that there is a mutual connection between all human beings and animals on Earth. Their religious association with the food ensures that they efficiently take advantage of each component of the animal. It does not only mean consumption. It also means that they use every resource they acquire from the animal to make tools and technology in order to survive. They use the skin for clothes to keep warm and use the blubber to produce oil, which gives them fuel. Without this mindset of sustainability in their diet, the Netsilik people would not be able to survive rigid environment they live in.

What is common about the Netsilik diet is that all of their food is meat and is extremely high in fat and protein. They use these nutrients because they specifically help them withstand long-term exposure to the cold elements. The high amounts of protein help increase their metabolic processes, which helps them retain heat over a long period of time.

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