A Contemporary Alutiiq Seal Hunt

We are not primitive people. We are contemporary people. I'm blending with you and I still hold my culture.
-Ron Senungetuk, Homer

No longer hunted with harpoon and kayak, seals are taken with skiff, outboard, and rifle. Follow Alutiiq/Sugpiaq seal hunters Nick Tanape, Sr. and Dan Anohanok of Nanwalek to the head of Kachemak Bay in search of harbor seals.

I Should Think Like a Seal

Every Part of the Seal

I Used to Hunt With My Dad

Seal hunting has been an integral part of life on Kachemak Bay for millennia.

This tradition continues with contemporary Alutiiq/Sugpiaq hunters who are allowed to pursue ancient hunting practices through a "native exemption" in the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. The exemption was included in the act so that we could continue to take marine mammals that are essential to our diet. The exemption also allows the continued use of marine mammal fur for cultural clothing and handicraft purposes so long as they are used in a non-wasteful manner.

Today, Native hunters not only provide food and clothing for our families through hunting, but we are involved in a vast network of Native Marine Mammal Commissions working on conservation issues.

The Alaska Native Harbor Seal Commission trains seal hunters throughout the state to collect biological data directly from seals that are caught.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act also provides for Native Marine Mammal Commissions to enter into co-management agreements with federal agencies to protect marine mammal resources for a sustainable harvest.

These commissions provide education and outreach that involves the hunters and youth in remote villages.

About Community-Based Videos

Each of us has our own way of knowing, of interacting with the world. The small personal voice carries truth in its intimacy. These stories are the ones that captivate us.

The Pratt Museum has brought together storytellers to create community-based videos in their personal and communal voice. Each video has been produced collaboratively from start to finish by the storytellers. With this has come an awakened sense of community born from listening to each other and to the choir of many perspectives.

Credits

The seal hunt and interview with Nick Tanape, Sr. were filmed on Kachemak Bay and in Homer, Alaska on September 21-22, 1999.

The Kayak and native regalia sequences were filmed during Tamamta Katurlluta- the Gathering of Native Traditions Festival in Homer, Alaska in September 1997.

Featuring
Nick Tanape, Sr.
Dan Anahonak, Jr.
Nanwalek Seal Hunters

Supervising Producers
Nick Tanape, Sr., Alutiiq Consultant
Betsy Webb, Curator of Collections
Gale Parsons, Director of Education
Pratt Museum
3779 Bartlett Street
Homer, Alaska 99603

Produced, Photographed and Edited by
Tom Pillifant
Tommy's Dog
Anchorage, Alaska

Additional Footage provided by
Copyright © Daniel Zatz
Broadcast Services of Alaska
Homer, Alaska

Music Courtesy of
Nanwalek Sugpiaq Dancers

Music Recorded and Mixed by
Dennis Leach
Dream Catcher Studios
Homer, Alaska

This film was made possible through the support of
Chugachmiut
Lora Johnson-Executive Director
Helen Morris - Chugachmiut Regional
Curriculum Development Coordinator
4201 Tudor Center Drive, Suite 210
Anchorage, Alaska 99508

Funded by
U.S. Department of Education Grant # S320A70012

Copyright © 2000 Pratt Museum