It was eye opening to learn about more about Inuit culture in the modern world, and to hear their side of the argument on the EU's ban on seal products. It was also eye opening to watch people eat raw seal brains out on the ice after a kill, and then cut up the giant chunks of meat on a tarp in the living room, inviting friends over to eat (eek). Director Alethea Arnaquq-Baril does a good job of showing how traditional ways have adapted, interviewing various members of the community, all of whom are thoughtful and peaceful. She also makes the case that in addition to their own use of the meat/skins, Inuits depend financially on selling seal products into the global economy, that banning these in a world that sells copious quantities of other animal products is hypocritical and discriminatory, and that a more nuanced policy decision, one that had catch limits and other provisions would allow her people to survive without turning to other means, e.g. attempting to profit off of mining, which may be harmful to the environment. It's a pretty compelling argument.
Right or wrong, the documentary is biased, which is maybe appropriate given just how financially powerful and well represented the other side is, but I would have liked to have seen it more balanced. That's of course hard to do when animal rights groups refused to be interviewed or appear on talk shows with Arnaquq-Baril. She tries to distance herself from the massive seal hunt off the coast of Newfoundland, but showing it and the numbers of some of these species before activism got regulation passed I think would have at least shown where the other side was coming from. The argument that something is part of a culture and therefore sacrosanct is problematic for me personally when it comes to animal rights, because it's so often misused and in ways that are driving many species to extinction (e.g. cultures that covet tiger penises, shark's fins, and ivory tusks). To cast groups like the Humane Society and others as seeking profit over protecting animals, when in many places they're doing good in the world, seemed like it was going too far.
Inuit hunting is done with respect for the animal and in harmony with the environment, and certainly far, far more humane than factory farming. (This is probably the documentary could have expanded on, or the impact of alternative products, instead of repeating its central point again and again.) On the other hand, other groups of people have the right to decide what products they're willing to support, particularly in a world where veganism is on the rise. It's unfortunate that there wasn't more of a compromise here, because as Arnaquq-Baril says in one of her more telling moments, given their mutual respect for the environment, they should be on the same side.
