How Can Anyone Kill a Seal? How Can Anyone Possibly Kill a Whale?
Statement from the West Nordic Council How can anyone kill a seal? How can anyone possibly kill a whale? These are natural questions from people who have spent their lives in populous western cities. To the peoples from northern regions, these questions provoke no more concern than the question, “How can anyone ever kill a pig or a cow?” In the west Nordic areas, i.e., Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, we have a tradition of hunting, for example, birds and sea mammals. Eating meat from whales or seals is as natural to us as eating pork, beef or poultry is to others. Wearing a beautiful coat made of seal pelt comes as naturally as wearing clothes made from cow hide. Hunting is part of our cultural heritage. It has contributed to forming our traditional diet, our history and our identity. Through the ages, hunting has been part of the very basis of our existence. Whenever hunting failed, the pots remained empty. To many of us, even today, hunting constitutes a vital proportion of
