Gov. Gen. eats slaughtered seal's raw heart to show support for seal hunt

[Freddie Stubbs]

RANKIN INLET, Nunavut - On the first day of her trip to the Arctic Michaelle Jean gutted a freshly slaughtered seal, pulled out its raw heart, and ate it.

Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered around as the Governor General made a gesture of solidarity with the country's beleaguered seal hunters.

Jean knelt above a pair of carcasses and used a traditional blade to slice the meat off the skin.

After repeated, vigorous cuts through the flesh the Queen's representative turned to the woman beside her and asked enthusiastically: "Could I try the heart?"

more: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090525/national/gov_gen_arctic

[ClarkUSA]

1. I hope the seal was infected with heartworm.

[Rebubula]

7. Good Idea...

...then the worms can infect the whole community that it will feed.

:eyes:



Yes...eating a seal heart seems savage and inhumane to those of us that can drive to Safeway, but to the Inuit of the area - the seals ARE Safeway. The world is a lot bigger than our little slice of society.

[NYCGirl]

10. Nicely said. NT

[ClarkUSA]

13. Um, I was being sarcastic. Lighten up. Spare me the lecture.

[Posteritatis]

20. The classic backpedal when called on a stupid statement (nt)

[ClarkUSA]

32. A lack of humor and self-righteousness usually go together. Your comment is a prime example.

Or are you really so scientifically-challenged that you think seals get heartworm? :eyes:

[petronius]

95. Actually, seals do get heartworm

Including the same nematode species that affects dogs. Are you really so Google-challenged that you wouldn't search before launching your snark? :P

[La Lioness Priyanka]

117. oh c'mon, you were not being particularly lighthearted. or at all funny.

in order to find humor, doesnt somethign have to be funny?

[KittyWampus]

2. If you eat meat, it's always enlightening to get close to the slaughtered animal

you are about to eat.

Are seals endangered?

[Posteritatis]

25. Not at all (nt)

[ShortnFiery]

3. That's just VILE ... SAVAGE.

:puke: :thumbsdown:

[Freddie Stubbs]

14. The Inuit's "savage" ways have enabled them to survive in a harsh climate

[Lorien]

63. Inuit's use spears, not clubs. They don't skin animals alive

and they don't kill because they are greedy and vain.

[MajorChode]

102. They do use clubs and it's actually a more humane way of dispatching the animal

The clubs used are specifically designed for the task and when used properly will dispatch the animal immediately with no suffering. A spear is much more difficult to use because the heart is a smaller, invisible target and even if the heart is pierced, the animal may suffer for several minutes before it dies. Even the humane society has said the hakapik should not be banned.

[Thothmes]

72. for several thousand years.

[Mari333]

87. watch...this isnt tradition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-2P_fxk2c

[Raskolnik]

17. Is it any more "VILE" or "SAVAGE" than paying $30 for a medium-rare filet mignon? n/t

[Posteritatis]

21. You see, that's okay because the filet mignon just magically appears on our plates (nt)

[Raskolnik]

30. Its nice how it works that way, isn't it?

The sneering contempt with which some folks on this board treat people that, by choice or circumstance, actually do the kind of killing that puts food on their plates just gets under my skin.

Leaving the issue of sustainability, I'd wager that those seals enjoyed a far higher quality of life than the vast majority of factory farmed animals, and were killed as humanely as the hunters could manage. But, because the seals are cute (awwww) and there is some blood and guts (gasp!) involved, people will wring their hands and cluck their tongues at people who are trying to hang onto their traditional way of life.

[Posteritatis]

35. Yep

The depth to which some people decide to stay sheltered around here is a bit irritating at best. It strikes me as similar to people screaming about unnatural X, Y or Z are on, y'know, the Internet.

[MajorChode]

103. Cute animals always have more rights than non-cute animals

You really should embrace that simple concept. It's not that hard.

Seals, whales, dolphins = cute = rights.

Cows, pigs, fish = not cute = no rights.

[NickB79]

27. So are the methods employed to farm livestock

I could go on and on about the things that are done to livestock on family farms: clipping out teeth, castration without anesthesia, clipping off tails, clipping the tips off of beaks, confining them to small pens, etc.

Don't even ask me about the conditions that are found on factory farms :puke:

[Seldona]

40. I find your judgementalism far more vile.

I bet they have far less impact on their environment that our society does. Who is the savage? A man taking a seal to feed his family? Or some puke clear cutting a forest for a housing development, or a grocery store, or a mini-mall?

I'll eat the heart ANY DAY.

[Horse with no Name]

92. The photo op was vile

People surviving isn't. There is a difference.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

118. are you vegan?

[NYCGirl]

4. Here's a film of Anthony Bourdain with an Inuit family partaking of their raw

seal feast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGVdYiM5IXw

[tuvor]

5. "The Inuit waste nothing."

Thanks for posting that.

[dugaresa]

41. that was very interesting

good post

[slampoet]

101. Once they put a face of Inuit Poverty on the Seal Hunt I began to realise ......

....that none of these protesters were doing ANYTHING to address the fundamental fact that here are people who can't grow food in their short season and either need to hunt for food and money or they need to be dependent on the outside world to have all their supplies flown in.

I see no protesters doing anything to feed these hunter's families and a starving family at -40 below is not like starving in Florida.


I encourage anyone to see the Canada episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. It is a big eye opener on how people live and eat in extreme cold conditions. Personally i found the segment with the guy who lives on Maple products and a lumberjack diet to be more shocking than eating the seal.

[XOKCowboy]

113. Bourdain usually is good about showing local culture

His shows on the Mexico border, Laos and VietNam are some of the best ever at showing how the locals live and how we impact them. I loved the grandma in this episode. She reminds me a lot of my full-blood grandmother.

[chatnoir]

6. Freaking disgusting.

[Triana]

8. Disgusting! n/t

[Raskolnik]

36. I know! Don't those Inuit know they should be eating Doritos and drinking Coke

like civilized humans?

[Mari333]

88. its about fur coats for wealthy people

not about what Inuits eat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-2P_fxk2c

[Raskolnik]

96. Why don't you read the story again for the first time and reconsider. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

9. See? We're not bloodthirsty

We CARE.

[NYCGirl]

11. Are you vegan? NT

[Canuckistanian]

16. No.

This is a shocking act by Michaelle Jean.

It's going to be picked up by European media and used to further demonize us.

I'm glad the EU banned seal imports.

[Spazito]

26. Hmmm, so the Inuit should tailor their culture to fit the...

'sensitivities' of the Europeans? It is NOT a shocking act by the Governor General, imo, it is, however, an acknowledgment and acceptance of the Inuit culture and way of life.

Had the Governor General showed up on an icepack off Newfoundland and began clubbing seals for their pelts to sell to those same Europeans, I would call her actions shocking.

[Canuckistanian]

76. No. What I object to is the marketing of the seal hunt

It seems to me, she's doing this to support the seal hunt, INCLUDING the white Newfoundlanders.

If she's doing this to show cultural sensitivity to the Inuit, then fine, I'm all for it.

[Spazito]

80. Here is what she actually said as opposed to the misleading headlines...

"It was absolutely delicious," Jean said. "These are ancient practices that are part of a way of life. If you can't understand that, you're completely missing the reality of life here."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2009/05/25/gg-nunavut-visit.html

[Canuckistanian]

81. You're right. She doesn't seem to say anything about the hunt

Goddamned media spin stories have me steamed for nothing.

[Spazito]

82. Yep, can't create a controversy by simply reporting that...

she, while visiting the Inuit, ate what they eat as part of their ordinary diet so they do their usual distortions. I usually check out CBC to see what the facts are when I see flaming US and Global headlines given they have a bad 'habit' of blowing things out of proportion.

[Raskolnik]

33. How is it any more "shocking" than carving off a piece of fresh sushi from a salmon? n/t

[Canuckistanian]

77. Look, I have no problems with Inuit culture

What I DO have problems with is a southern government official using an Inuit tradition to support an immoral practice of selling seal parts to the highest foreign bidder.

[CHIMO]

71. Well

Depends on the reference.

Dutch traditions: raw herring

http://blog.arendsen.net/index.php/2007/07/20/dutch-traditions-raw-herring/

And if you want unhealthy food then:
http://www.amazon.ca/Dying-Hamburger-Processing-Epidemic-Alzheimers/dp/031234015X
http://www.prwatch.org/books/madcow.html

When we are aghast at things, then sometimes it is because we are frozen in our ways.

[Canuckistanian]

79. I'm not making a comment on the diet of the Inuit

I'm making a comment on the GG's use of this to promote seal hunting.

I have nothing at all against the subsistence harvesting of seals by native people.

I just don't think they need any "support" by having southern politicians promoting the practice.

[livetoride]

12. Judgmental..

I am surprised at all the judgmental comments.. It's not "savage" or "gross". This is part of the Inuit way of life, a visiting dignitary (of any level) that is willing to participate is only celebrating their culture. If you travel, be prepared to leave the cultural bias at home.

[merh]

15. welcome to DU

You have to understand, some people think that their corner of the world is the only corner.

We can't figure out how to feed our starving or how to house the homeless on our mainland yet we judge a people for surviving for centuries by relying on the land. What, haven't the Inuits heard about tofu or quiche'?

[LanternWaste]

61. Seld-delete

[Matariki]

108. There are also people here who would prefer that others starve

in the name of their own dietary philosophies. Just try mentioning Heifer International for instance. A perfectly good Non Profit that does great work helping people achieve self sufficiency.

[Posteritatis]

19. But - but - seals are cute so hunting them is intrinsically evil!

Loving all the idiots going on about how bloodthirsty and savage people are being who probably have quite a bit of ground cow in their freezers.

[LeftyMom]

24. Fuck cultural relativism.

:grr:

[NickB79]

28. So when are you going to start building that chain of grocery stores up there then?

I mean, if you're that upset with the way that the Inuit obtain food, you will give them another option, right?

[Posteritatis]

34. Well, you'd have to force them all to be vegan first

Which I'm sure would be a wonderfully cost-effective idea in the Arctic. ;)

[MellowDem]

29. Cultural relativism?

Relative to what? Our culture, which slaughters animals for us to eat as well?

I think this is more of a case of "cute" relativism.

[LeftyMom]

31. Fuck that, I'm no cuddlytarian.

Killing and eating any feeling being is fucked up.

[NickB79]

37. So all the grocery stores you're building for the Inuit will be stocked with tofurkeys then?

[Raskolnik]

38. "Killing and eating any feeling being is fucked up."

What, pray tell, should the Inuit be eating instead of seals?

[LeftyMom]

42. Something that doesn't suffer. An animal is not a resource to be harvested.

[Raskolnik]

43. Please be specific. What "something that doesn't suffer" is available in the arctic? n/t

[Posteritatis]

45. The vast, glowing fields of maize, the bountiful orchards, the dietary-supplement bushes.. (nt)

[Raskolnik]

49. I don't know why they don't eat at that new vegan place

you know, the one between the yoga studio and the Whole Foods? Beats me why they don't just go there instead of eating those poor seals...

[LeftyMom]

46. Are populations not mobile?

:shrug:

[Posteritatis]

47. That's a level of dumb that makes "let them eat cake" sound wise (nt)

[HughMoran]

93. Indeed

What the fuck - are we educated in caves in this country?

[Raskolnik]

48. Yeah, that's what I thought. They should move to Sacramento like you and buy their food in

a supermarket. Then they'd be civilized.

[LeftyMom]

52. Of course. Nowhere else do people manage to live without slaughtering threatened species.

:eyes:

[Posteritatis]

54. Not in the arctic, they damned well don't

And harbour seals aren't threatened.

[Raskolnik]

56. First, I do not believe that the seal population is "threatened" by Inuit hunting.

Second, you are now moving the goalposts.

Make up your mind: is your disdain for the Inuits based upon their slaughtering of seals, or the fact that you believed the seals being slaughtered are "threatened?"

[LeftyMom]

57. It's horrifying either way.

And the seal population is threatened by global warming and doesn't need any added stress from hunting.

[Raskolnik]

60. So you don't really know what you're talking about, but you're sure of it nonetheless. n/t

[Ghost in the Machine]

67. +10

:thumbsup:

[livetoride]

69. It's wholly unreasonable

to think of hunting as "added" stress. It's been going on for generations upon generations and it's a peoples way of life, not some new nifty trend (like vegan eating). It's only horrifying because we, as a culture, have gotten so far from the source of our own food that we've become ridiculously sensitive. If you want to solve the Seal population problem focus on Global Climate Change, but leave the Inuit alone.

-Peter

[J-Lo Biafra]

114. On the bright side, global warming will melt the ice caps, making way for acres of farm land.

Soy blubber for everyone!

[Throd]

53. Why don't they buy their meat at Raley's like us civilized Sacramentans?

[uppityperson]

59. um, what?

A whole "population" should move to where they have vegan food available to them? Huh

[Ghost in the Machine]

64. So you're saying that people should move out of the desert instead of relying on aid from others?

:shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

65. Are you advocating for the genocide of Inuit and other artic peoples?

[Posteritatis]

66. Oh, good, I wasn't the only person wondering that (nt)

[rockymountaindem]

85. Oh come on

The Inuit should leave their homeland and way of life they've had since, well, eons so you can convert them to vegans? You're setting down a yardstick that they should conform to. Cultural relativism can be bad, but cultural imperialism is far worse.

[BreweryYardRat]

90. While I generally agree with you on most things...

That's a non-viable argument.

Even if the Inuit were to pack up and move of their own free will, they'd still need food wherever they eventually settled down. I doubt too many of them would convert them to veganism anytime soon. They'd still be hunting something. Or at least raising meat animals.

I don't particularly like people killing seals either (mainly because they're smart, as animals go), but you'd do better to focus on stopping commercial seal hunters -- who kill many more seals each year than the Inuit, and just take the fur -- and then work on figuring out ways to give the Inuit alternatives to seal meat. If you want them to eat something other than seals, they've got to first have something else they can eat instead.

[Rebubula]

120. WOW...

...that is a whole new level of elitist dumb.

A culture that has survived and thrived in a harsh environment for a 1000 years does something that you do not like so they should MOVE???? Leave their native area and go somewhere else?? A whole new trail of tears for these people because you do not like their diet.

Sometimes it wobbles the mind to hear the level of stupid come from otherwise intelligent adults.

[Posteritatis]

44. Try living in a resource-scarce environment for awhile before getting back to us

I see you're from Sacramento, so I'm going to assume that you're clueless about what the Arctic is like. Your neck of the woods is Edenic by comparison.

Oh, I know, they should all just pack up and move south like good civilized white people, right?

[proteus_lives]

62. The last 5-6,000 years of human civilization beg to differ.

Humans have always used animals for the meat and their products. Animals were food, shelter, clothes, companions, wealth, transportation, religious symbols and decoration.

Animals were our first "resource."

[LanternWaste]

111. Slaves were our second.

"Animals were our first "resource."

Slaves were our second. We are indeed a rather "resourceful" people.

[proteus_lives]

112. Comparing the two?

:eyes:

Actually I would guess edible plants or fire as our second.

Weird that you think what happens to cows, deer, goats, seals, etc. equal to what happens to human beings.

[Rebubula]

121. Dear god...

...what a ridiculous comparison..

I expect better from you...your posts tend to be much more intelligent than that.

[Thothmes]

73. What is the growing season for

soybeans in Upper Canada? Maybe they could make seal flavored tofu

[Thothmes]

74. Homo sapiens have "harvested" animals for about the last

100,000 years.

[iamthebandfanman]

99. well we draw the line with other things

why not animal killing?

im pretty sure there are lots of 'ways of life' in the united states alone that dont get to practice things they originally or traditionally did...

[livetoride]

100. why not animal killing? Here's why..

We have trampled the rights, values, and life styles of the indigenous peoples quite enough. To tell the Inuit that they can't eat their most traditional of foods, because it offends our delicate senses, is absurd.

-Peter

[alfredo]

18. Good politics. I wonder how it tasted.

Michaelle Jean

[proteus_lives]

55. Great politics!

It's inspiring to a politician go the mat for the people she represents.

[alfredo]

84. Of course she might like eating the hearts of dead animals, then the good

politics is not letting on that she has a "thing" about eating hearts from animals. There's is a line between diplomat and freak... not a big line, but a line none the less.

[Posteritatis]

22. Well, there isn't much room for doubt on Jean's position now, is there? (nt)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. As Bob Dylan said....

“Now, the man on the stand he wants my vote,
He's a-runnin' for office on the ballot note.
He's out there preachin' in front of the steeple,
Tellin' me he loves all kinds-a people.
(He's eatin' bagels
He's eatin' pizza
He's eatin' chitlins
He's eatin' bullshit!)”

Bob Dylan

[flvegan]

39. Bullshit fucking "solidarity." The Inuit hunts aren't affected by the EU ban.

Nice try with your "solidarity" move Jean, you pathetic dirtbag. The Inuit people aren't touched by the ban, your sealers are.

[SOS]

83. It's about money, the Inuit are being exploited as a photo op background

"The European Parliament voted this month to ban seal products, a move seen by Atlantic Canadian fishermen as an attack on their trade.
Asked Tuesday whether her actions were a message to Europe, Jean replied, "Take from that what you will."

She's been GG since 2005 and suddenly she needs to go to Nunavut to show solidarity with people exempt from the ban.
What a farce.

[Enrique]

50. Sarah Palin will need to top this

she can't let some freaking Canadian make her look like a pussy.

[Posteritatis]

51. Maybe she'll do the same thing to a Russian or something?

(Jean is Haitian, by the way.)

[NashVegas]

68. My Thoughts, Too

Great minds.

[HughMoran]

94. Love to see Sarah slice open a moose and stick her head in the chest cavity

:)

[AspenRose]

115. Eat your heart out, Sarah! I mean, er, um...never mind

}(

[proteus_lives]

58. Hardcore!

It's impressive that she stood for them. A Governor General to tip your hat to.

Their hunts aren't about putting antlers on the wall of a den, they are about food and culture. No one has the right to take their livelihood away from them!

[gula]

70. Kudos to our GG

[Mari333]

89. she condones murder for fur coats for the wealthy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-2P_fxk2c

[gula]

107. My computer doesn't suport you tube, however

I have yet to see a seal coat. I know their pelts make the only truly water proof boots.

I suggest you go and live with the Inuit for a few years and then come back and tell us about it.

[Sheepshank]

75. While I understand the traditions

of the gathering and the authenitc eating process...I couldn't help but notice a perfectly decent looking stove right behind them. But then again, I've grown accustomed to sushi with raw tuna and salmon too.

[cbc5g]

78. Animals have become our slave food..being carnivorous wouldn't be bad ..EXCEPT

for the fact that there are almost 7 BILLION PEOPLE ON THE PLANET!!!

mass produced slaughter and it's not going to change unless our unsustainable population drops drastically

And I say this as a meat eating hypocrite (but only ones that are humanely raised instead of abused or caged)

[Mari333]

86. killing of the baby harp seals for fur coats

is murder. bludgeoning them to death. its murder. this political scam is just that, a scam.
here, have fun watching the slaughter..murder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-2P_fxk2c

[Raskolnik]

98. No matter how many times you post that same YouTube link, it doesn't change the fact

that subject of the OP is subsistence hunting by the Inuit, not commercial fur hunters.

[SOS]

104. Ostensibly the topic is hunting by the Inuit, but it's not

The EU ban on seal products takes effect in October 2009. The vote was this month.
The Inuit are exempt.
100% of the export market hunting is in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. 0% from Nunavut.
The GG ignored the Inuit for years, but suddenly she has to go to the arctic to munch on raw seal gizzards.

Her sudden concern is really about the millions of dollars that the white sealers make selling stupid hats to Europeans with more money than taste,

As with everything in our modern world, just follow the money.

[Spazito]

105. The Inuit are not exempt, there are some exceptions....

"The ban will offer some exemptions to Inuit communities in Canada and Greenland so they can continue their traditional hunts of harp and hooded seals, but bars large-scale trading of pelts, oils or meats in the 27-state European Union.

Another exemption will allow for non-commercial and "small-scale" hunts to manage seal populations. However, seal products derived from those hunts will not be allowed to enter the EU.

Some Inuit groups have said Europe's restrictions will place a hefty toll on the many communities that are heavily dependent on the seal hunt.

snip

The exemption will do little to help the communities when the markets for seal products have been effectively destroyed, said Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2009/05/05/eu-seal-ban-505.html

Another link about the Inuit's concerns:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/05/06/inuit-seal-eu-reax.html

[Horse with no Name]

91. Barbaric. What did she have for dessert?

:scared:

[Raskolnik]

97. No more "barbaric" than ordering prime rib. n/t

[Spazito]

106. Barbaric? The death penalty is barbaric....

The Inuit's way of life and it's culture is far from barbaric. I find the hypocrisy as to what is barbaric quite fascinating.

[LanternWaste]

109. That's one classy broad...

That's one classy broad. She and Ms. Palin should hang out together-- hit some bars on lady's night and down a few $1.00 pitchers of Lone Star before they hit their next photo ops.

[Bucky]

110. As long as she didn't serve it with dijon mustard... cause then she's an elitist.

[AB_Positive]

116. If you're somehow feeling protest-y... stop. They need to eat. If you don't like it, you feed them.

This is animal advocacy gone too far. I'm Canadian - I know what Nunavut is like. They have seals, whales and snow. Snow isn't nutritious people. Just STFU.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

119. good point. if the meat isnt endangered what is the problem here?

its not like they are farming it just for the skin or something. they are eating it.