Hunting With My Ancestors

In 1963 families living on the land at Kivitoo were relocated by RCMP to Qikiqtarjuaq, a town 50 km to the south, with the promise they could return, only to return to find their homes bulldozed and belongings destroyed.… Uqalimakkanirit

In October of 2015 Zach travelled to Arviat, one of the southernmost communities in Nunavut, along the western coast of Hudson Bay. The area is known for its incredibly large herds of caribou.… Uqalimakkanirit

It’s June and time for the spring seal hunt. People travel on the melting sea ice looking for cracks and breathing holes in the 24-hour daylight. Zach follows elder Louis Uttak on a family seal hunt, as he shares his expert hunting knowledge and tells stories of his past life living on the land.  

Inuit of the Igloolik region have been hunting walrus, incredibly large and sometimes dangerous animals, for thousands of years – caching and fermenting their meat for the long winter ahead. We first follow Zach on a winter hunt, as hunters venture out by snowmobile to the floe edge in search of walrus, and a more common summer hunt by boat.  

Hunting With My Ancestors, Episode 3, Dog Team Bear Hunt.

Hunting With My Ancestors Episode 2: Net Fishing Under the Ice, Isuma/Kingulliit Productions 2018, Director Zacharias Kunuk. Inuktut w/Eng s-t.

Inuit have hunted bowhead whales for thousands of years, using stone tools to hunt these 25 ton mammals. In 2016, Igloolik received a tag to harvest a bowhead; Zacharias Kunuk documents this hunt - from the selection of hunting captains and planning

Hunting With My Ancestors Episode 1: Bowhead Whale Hunt, Isuma, Kingulliit Productions 2017, Director Zacharias Kunuk.

How to hunt walrus, from how to kill and butcher it, to preparing the meat and burying it to make Igunaq, the fermented walrus meat.

 Hunting With My Ancestors delivers – from an Inuit point of view – an introduction into regional ecosystem and Inuit prac

tices, centuries old, to harvest its bounty. This television series featuring different animals, hunters and regions, presents, through

Camera: Richard Amarualik
Editing: Maia Iotzova

Camera: David Poisey
Sound: Richard Lavoie
Editing: Maia Iotzova

Camera: David Poisey
Editing: Maia Iotzova