Inuk father teaches son and others about the importance of beluga whales to northern culture

Albert Netser was proud of his son Nangaat after he harvested his first beluga whale.

As many proud parents would, he took a picture and posted it on Twitter.

What Netser wasn’t prepared for was the torrent of criticism he received.

The Hudson Bay man took a picture of Nangaat standing on rocks at the edge of the water in front of the dead whale.

To the online haters who saw the whale hunt as cruel, Netser had a simple explanation.


As an Inuk, the harvesting of whales is part of their culture, heritage and their diet.

“This animal we only harvest it once a year if your lucky,” he explained. “We share our catch. We eat it raw, cooked or fermented. We are still keeping our tradition alive by harvesting and also eating what we harvested. Thank you for asking.”

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Peg Fong is also in recovery from newspapers

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