SEA HISTORY for kids Arctic seals and their numbers and migrations are relatively easy to predict, easier than bowhead whales. Different groups of Indigenous people had moved in and out of this region for centuries, with different traditions and hunting practices, but Western archaeologists and oral traditions show that walruses have always been part of Inuit survival in the Arctic: for food, for tools from walrus tusks, for light from walrus oil, and for rope made from walrus skin. Walruses have also been significant figures in Indigenous storytelling and in their spiritual lives, reflected in Inuit clothing, musical instruments, and artwork.
Pacific Ocean
Alaska
CANADA
Arctic Ocean
RUSSIA
Ikeq-Smith Sound
GREENLAND
Atlantic Ocean Walrus primary habitat range.
photo by matthew henson
(above)
Ootah, Egingwah, Seegloo, and Ooqueah, four of the Inughuit men who helped get Peary and Henson to the North Pole in April 1909.
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the peary-macmillan arctic museum and arctic studies center, bowdoin college
Inuit cultures might first have impacted walrus populations to some extent, but certainly not in the way that European hunting did. Beginning in the 980s CE, Norse hunters arrived on the coast of Greenland, initiating a crash of the local walrus populations. The Vikings—and later European groups—then hunted walruses throughout the Canadian Maritimes. In the 1400s and 1500s, European explorers, fishermen, and whalemen hunted walrus for ivory, meat, hides, and blubber (for oil). Healthy herds of walruses were slaughtered by the thousands in the icy regions of the Gulf of St Lawrence and even as far south as Sable Island off Nova Scotia. This commercial hunting, which increased still more with the use of firearms, continued into the early twentieth century. Matthew Henson died in 1955 after finally getting some of the honors and respect that he deserved for his expeditionary achievements as an Arctic explorer. Meanwhile, even in this time of rapid climate change in the far north and increased impact from human presence, walruses seem to be recovering, in part because of strict management. In recent decades, a series of policies have required Indigenous voices in the decisions as to how many walruses to hunt, when, and where. I think Matthew Henson would be pleased. Matthew Henson in his fur Arctic expedition gear.
For more “Animals in Sea History,” go to www.seahistory.org or educators.mysticseaport.org.