Inuit Observations of Polar Bears

Tracking Polar Bears Outside Iqaluit!

Polar bears are elusive, even in open tundra landscapes. This video follows Solomon Awa and Jack Allakariallak from Iqaluit as they go out looking and tracking polar bears. They finds lots of tracks, and share their knowledge of what can be learned from these tracks and the environment around them.

Tracking Polar Bears Outside Makkovik

Inuit receiving one of the two polar bear licenses in Makkovik, Nunatsiavut, have seven days to hunt a polar bear before the license is passed to another hunter. This video shares an experience of tracking polar bears outside of Makkovik.

How did this woman survive a polar bear attack?

How to Use Polar Bear Fur

This video features the voices of women from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, as they share their experiences with preparing polar bear fur. They offer insights into the cultural significance and techniques involved in working with polar bear fur, an important material for clothing and other items in Arctic life.

Polar Bears: Voices from Pangnirtung

Knowledge holders from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, reflect on changes they are witnessing relating to polar bears outside of their community. They discuss the importance of Inuit stewardship, and the history of living alongside polar bears.

Living With Polar Bears in Pangnirtung

As people hunt, fish, and trap on the land, they no longer feel the same sense of safety they once did. Bears are breaking into cabins, making experiences on the land more uncertain. In this video we hear from knowledge holders from Pangnirtung as they share their experiences with bears.

Nippaq - The Seal Hole

The millennia-old relationship between Inuit and polar bears is cinematically explored through a shared source of food: seals. Bear and human hunters both wait patiently by the tiny breathing holes seals have carved into the frozen icescape. Through bears, Inuit have learned to be still, waiting for the rare moment to strike to eat and survive.

What Hunting Polar Bears Mean For This Woman

This narrative shares the experience of Melva and her family's experience trying to hunt a polar bear outside of Rigolet, Nunatsiavut. As a female hunter, Melva shares the cultural value of the hunt, and how the fur is now used as an educational resource for youth so that their connection to polar bears can be sustained.

Observations of Polar Bears Around Makkovik

What do the changing ice conditions mean for polar bears? Knowledge holders in Makkovik share their views, and their experiences with changing bear behaviour. They also reflect on the importance of hunter education and connection to culture for sustained relationships with bears.

The Making of Nanuk Narratives

The co-creation process of Nanuk Narratives involved a collaborative effort between Inuit communities, wildlife co-management boards, local filmmakers, and interdisciplinary experts. This video celebrates some of the many people who were behind this work.

60 years of tracking polar bears

How Inuit Co-Exist With Wildlife

What do polar bears mean for Inuit?

Ikimaliq Pikilak, an artist, filmmaker, and cultural knowledge holder based in Nuuk, Greenland, shares a unique perspective on the deep emotional connections between Inuit and polar bears. She describes a reciprocal connection, and how hunters have learnt much from bears over many generations.

The Dangers Of Living In Polar Bear Country

How to Cook Polar Bear Meat

A polar bear broke into his cabin!

In 2021, a bear broke into Tony Andersen's cabin outside of Makkovik, Nunatsiavut. Many people within Makkovik and other communities across the Davis Strait range have experienced similar issues, with bears causing damage to property.