Without Fur, We Would Not Exist

F*** real fur

Says the pin on a woman's jacket in Manhattan

Ah, a militant vegan I have met plenty of her

The final evolution of the social justice warrior

So intersectional she doesn't oppress animals

(Her) survival doesn't depend on the death of others

It's 2019

After all, it wasn't her

Who "pushed" the Lenape out of their homelands

It was her ancestors

Who founded Manhattan with a fur trading settlement

And if it wasn't for her ancestors

Manhattan wouldn't have become the "cultural and financial capital of the world"

But if it wasn't for real fur,

She nor Manhattan would exist

Nikita Larter was born in Inuvik, NT and raised in Fort Simpson, NT. She is the daughter of Allison Raddi, and granddaughter of Emma and Moses Raddi. Nikita moved to Ontario in 2013 for university and became the first Inuk to obtain a Bachelor’s of Global Business and Digital Arts. In 2017, she moved to Toronto where she worked for TELUS and Home Depot Canada as a website designer. She now lives in Chicago, IL, where she works for a global software consultancy. Nikita wrote this poem in response to the overwhelming amount of anti-fur campaigns she saw during a trip to New York City.

What's the difference between real and fake fur? We dropped by the Inuvialuit Cultural Centre (ICRC) to ask seamstress Lena Kotokak for some tips:

1. Check the base of the fur. If you see leather or skin, it's real. If it's threadwork, it's fake. "They have to put the fake fur through [it] and pretend it’s on the bottom. You can tell just by the material in the back," says Lena.

2. Check the tips of the hairs. You may need a magnifying glass for this one. Are the hairs pointy? It's real. Are they cut straight across? Then it might be fake—or just sheared.

3. Quick! Burn it with fire! Take some hairs and burn them safely. Animal hair should smell like human hair when burned. Fake fur (likely acrylic or polyester) would not smell organic.

4. Real is hot; Fake is not. Lena's got it down pat: "You can’t beat real fur…because it’s so warm! The fake fur’s just like—as soon as you make it wet, it’s finished. You’d freeze, literally." Stay dry, friends.