People of a Feather

This remarkable documentary, directed by Joel Heath, focuses on the residents of the community of Sanikiluaq, in the Canadian Artic area, and their relationship with the fragile ecosystem that surrounds them.

I was struck certainly by the teamwork and cooperation the Inuit villagers display, which enables them to sustain themselves through extremely harsh conditions. Their hunting of the animals in their environment is only for their own sustenance, with the mainstays being the eider duck and seals.

The eider ducks are prominently featured in the movie, as they make that area their home, utilizing their eider feathers (the warmest in the world) to survive the Artic winters. The depictions in the film of their diving deep down into the frigid sea for food and then propelling themselves back to the surface were amazing. The Inuit residents also make good use of the eider feathers for their clothing and protection from the cold.

The documentary also strongly makes the point of alerting the viewer to the threat, which started in the 1970's, of hydroelectric stations and dams further South, which threaten the already fragile ecosystem there. The projects are allowing too much fresh water into the sea thus affecting the critical polynas from staying open, with current changes that are already taking place. Polynas are areas of open water, surrounded by sea ice (like sea "oases"), that stay open in the winter and allow eiders and other creatures to exist there and hunt for food.

In summary, I thought this documentary offered a fascinating look at the people of this area, as well as their natural environment. The nature footage and cinematography were often truly spectacular, and I learned quite a lot from the movie.