Thursday 18 October 2012

BBC Arctic Life clips and Inuit Diet

(There are several graphic images in this post, please don't read if this may make you feel uncomfortable)

"It is one of the most extreme and barren environments on earth, but four million humans have learned how to live here thanks to a deep understanding of the landscape and wildlife. Narwhal, beluga whales, auks, seal and reindeer are just some of the animals that Arctic people depend on for their survival, not to mention Arctic man's best friend - the indomitable husy"




Both images from the BBC. I love the colours of the landscape.

Inuit consume a diet of foods that are fished, hunted and gathered locally. This may include walrus, Ringed Seal, Bearded Seal, beluga whale, caribou polar bear, muskoxen, birds (including their eggs) and fish. While it is not possible to cultivate plants for food in the Arctic the Inuit have traditionally gathered those that are naturally available. According to Edmund Searles in his article "Food and the Making of Modern Inuit Identities," they consume this type of diet because a mostly meat diet is "effective in keeping the body strong,  keeping the body fit, and even making that body healthy". Searles defines Inuit food as mostly "eaten frozen, raw, or boiled, with very little mixture of ingredients and with very few spices added." 

(Information sourced from Wikipedia)

I wanted to look at the idea of the tribes consuming raw meat. One of my looks may include the hint of a bloody lip where they could have just eaten an animal they've killed.
I also find the rich, bright and intense colour of blood against the cool colours of the ice and snow quite interesting.



(images from Wikipedia)




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