Kivalliq elder calls for cull of wolves, bears, wolverines to protect caribou

William Noah, a well-known artist and former MLA and mayor of Baker Lake, says the inlanders who live in his community depend heavily on caribou and don’t hunt seal or polar bear very much. For that reason, he said government’s should implement a cull of wolves, wolverines and other carnivores to protect the region’s caribou herds. (FILE PHOTO)

Every time development is about to happen in the Kivalliq region, Inuit are quick to sign petitions against it.

But when it comes to over-harvesting by others and the wolves that over-kill tuktuit (caribou), no one seems to care enough to get rid of the number one killers.

As you may know, those of you who are 60 to 70 years old remember that the last time the governments had programs to cull wolves was way back in the 1950s, and it didn’t last very long either. Wolves and other meat eaters were poisoned over one winter or so.

As you may know, or not heard of, wolf populations grow fast and some litters are maybe up to eight to 10 pups per female. That is a lot.

If you let the wolf population grow that long, increasing in numbers over the past 60 years, they have no doubt been eating a whole lot of tuktuit.

So how come and why is it that us natives are always the first ones to be blamed?

Why can’t the federal government and Nunavut seriously start a wolf-kill program as soon as possible?

Before implementing tagging and caribou radio collaring, they should at first get rid of all the meat eaters, such as wolves, wolverines, grizzlies.

Calves that are new born every spring are easy targets for them. Bears in general come out from their hibernation just before the caribou calves are due to be born.

There are other environmental killers, such as breaking ice on rivers, and lakes, even at the large lakes.

There is even a big lake that has such a name. The big long point at Schultz Lake that is part of Thelon River and runs into Baker Lake was named “Qiuragviit” by the Akilirnirqmiut.

When the caribou come to the end of the point in herds, they figure the other side looks tempting to swim to, across to the other side.

But the weather is so unpredictable, a sudden wind can cause travelers and the tuktuit at the crossing point to die in numbers. Caribou are good swimmers, but a wider lake and a sudden wind can kill them in large numbers.

The other calf killers are fast river currents and ice bergs flowing down the rivers when the ice and snow are melting. The rivers are powerful and strong when there are run offs in the spring that happen in the morning and are gone by the evening when the snow and ice evaporate the next day.

Even the Arctic hares are meat eaters around town in the winter months. The people and small animals in this generation have changed.

I would very much like to see wolf and wolverine killing as soon as possible. Humans and animals have increased rapidly in population in just less than 50 years.

They both need to eat meat. They both hunt whatever they can reach and find. If you disagree with me, read your history documentations in your offices. The last wolves, and the meat eaters in general, were killed by poisoning them, I think I can accurately say in the year 1958-1959. Lemming studies were also done at the same time.

If you cannot do this program to save the tuktuit, they are going to be wiped out by wolves and other native hunters in the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

As for us Inuit, we were taught by our elders not to overkill and to harvest only what we need for the family and our dogs. As you have witnessed, there are very careless hunters who love to shoot anything with four legs.

Wolf harvesting can help the hunters economically if the pelts are taken before the late spring and during spring and summer, the pelts can be useful for making mitts or crafts in general, with good employment for some natives young and old.

I hope this letter will be taken seriously, before you make laws and rules for me, because we inland Inuit of Baker Lake have listened to the law makers for years and we cannot cope without meat in Baker Lake.

We are not like the coastal communities, who had everything from sea mammals to fisheries. It is impossible for Baker Lake, because we depend on caribou and fish. We don’t eat seal meat or polar bear meat.

Chicken and fries are costly to buy. Not everybody can afford Quickstop food. It is very harsh in the winter months to go out and do fishing when the ice is five feet thick. My family are the only ones to do ice chiseling throughout the harshest winter months.

William Noah
Baker Lake

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