Pangnirtung rejoices in successful bowhead whale hunt

Pangnirtung bowhead whale captain Simeonie Keenainak scouts for the right whale in Cumberland Sound Aug. 6. (PHOTO BY DAVID KILABUK PHOTOGRAPHY/PANGNIRTUNG)

The Pangnirtung bowhead whale hunters struggle with the harpooned bowhead whale Aug. 6. (PHOTO BY DAVID KILABUK PHOTOGRAPHY/ PANGNIRTUNG)

Charlie Qumuatuq, co-captain of the bowhead whale hunt in Pangnirtung, tells people about the successful Aug. 6 hunt after arriving back Aug. 8 in the community. (PHOTO BY SARAH MCMAHON)

Pangnirtung celebrated its first bowhead whale catch in 15 years, Aug. 9, a week after the hunting fleet of six boats sailed out of the community for Cumberland Sound.

The hunting party had sailed back into the community Aug. 8, with fellow members of the base camp set up for the hunt and whale butchering on Kekerten Island, along with a bounty of maktaaq, whale meat, whale bones and baleen from a whale, nearly 12 metres (39 feet, two inches) long, they had landed on Aug. 6.

“There were hundreds of people who came to greet us,” said Pangnirtung mayor Sakiasie Sowdlooapik, who helped man the whale-spotting towers that week at Kekerten. “They sang traditional bowhead hunters’ songs [which you can listen to and see on a YouTube video by Daniel Kullurutuq].

“It was a very touching and warm welcome for the captain, co-captain and crew of the boats.”

Co-captain Charlie Qumuatuq, who served as co-captain to hunt leader Simeonie Keenainak, said the big welcome gave an added lift to the hard-working crew.

“Everybody was really happy that the hunt turned out really well, even though it took us seven days,” said Qumuatuq, recalling that turbulence held up the hunting group at Kekerten camp for the first four days.

Qumuatuq helped oversee preparations for the community feast in Pangnirtung on Aug. 9, where residents shared thousands of pounds of maktaaq and bowhead meat on the beach near the harbour. Festivities included a slide show of photos by Pangnirtung photographer by David Kilabuk, which documented the hunt, along with dancing and games.

“Everybody’s enjoying the maktaaq, for sure,” Qumuatuq said of the delicacy, although the taste of bowhead whale was new to many.

“They said it’s very good, it’s very tasty,” said the co-captain. “A little bit stronger than narwhal, just a little bit.”

Everyone in Pangnirtung, with a population of about 1,500, celebrated the 35 hunters, and support crew of more than 100 butchers, spotters, cooks and other helpers made the hunt a success. It all started with a four-day wait at the Kekerten hunting camp, through grey, windy weather and turbulent seas in Cumberland Sound and Kingnait Fiord.

Once weather cleared, hunters selected and captured the whale in a day-long effort Aug. 6.

The happy crew set out for the seas again once weather cleared up, and spotted the first bowheads after just 20 minutes after departure from the camp.

“We were looking for the right sized bowhead whale, not too big,” Qumuatuq said.

Keenainak served as co-captain on Pangnirtung’s last bowhead hunt in 1998, when hunters landed a 12-metre-long (42-foot-long) whale. This year’s goal was to capture a smaller whale.

“They wanted to select a medium-sized [bowhead], so that the meat and muktaaq will be more tender,” said Sowdlooapik. “The big, big ones are not so tender, and they’re too big to handle.”

Sowdlooapik said he sighted several bowheads from the spotting towers that morning. The hunting crew focused their efforts on an area in Kingnait Fiord, north of Kekerten Island, where about 10 whales were spotted.

“We were looking for the right size, and we finally started hunting one at about 1:00,” said Qumuatuq. The whale turned out to be larger than thought, measuring about the same as that from 1998.

“We actually didn’t think it was that big,” he said. “The colour wasn’t black — it was greyish, so it’s not very old.”

Keenainak struck the first harpoon to the bowhead at 1:10 p.m., said Qumuatuq. The whale then swam into areas of icy water, which threatened to break ropes and prevented hunters from laying out buoys and floats to keep the whale from sinking.

Qumuatuq put in the last shot to kill the whale with an explosive harpoon, the last time it surfaced by the ice. The harpoon’s delayed explosive went off as the bowhead dove down again.

“We were hoping to see it float up, but it slowly started sinking down,” said Qumuatuq — which presented hunters with the biggest challenge of the hunt.

A nearby boat held the large whale with a long line, and all four hunting vessels grouped around for some heavy-lifting.

“We were fortunate to get it without losing the bowhead. It was just unbelievable that the rope never broke off,” Qumuatuq recalled.

“It sank pretty deep. We were pulling for almost two hours.”

Once brought to the surface and secured, hunters returned to the camp, where they were greeted to a joyful welcome by the camp crew. Hunters’ wives, family and friends were among the more than 100 community members at the camp. Butchering work began right away, he said, and continued for the next two days.

The butchering crew, made up of young men in their 20s to mid-30s, did “phenomenal work,” said Qumuatuq. “The guys were just unreal. The teamwork was perfect.”

The hunt was a rare occasion to recall a practice that was central to the community and dates back to the 19th century when Kekerten Island — now a territorial park — was the site of a major commercial whaling station.

“Younger generations helped and learned a lot from this hunt from the captain and co-captain and his team,” said Sowdlooapik. “We learned a lot for future hunts in the years to come,” he added, hopeful that the community could make it a more regular event.

“It was very good for us to repeat the history of our ancestors’ whaling hunts. That was a touching experience.”

Many in Pangnirtung turn out to see the boats filled with maktaaq from the bowhead whale landed Aug. 6 and butchered on Kekerten Island. (PHOTO BY SARAH MCMAHON)