Canada's governor general ate a slaughtered seal's raw heart in a show of support to the country's seal hunters, a display that a European Union spokeswoman on Tuesday called "too bizarre to acknowledge."
The Inuit have the shortest life expectancy in the world (discounting
famine, war, infant mortality and childhood diseases) because
of animal fat, heavy metal poisoning, amyloid plaque, intestinal
cancer, etc.
The Inuit have the shortest life expectancy in the world (discounting
famine, war, infant mortality and childhood diseases) because
of animal fat, heavy metal poisoning, amyloid plaque, intestinal
cancer, etc.
www.seattletimes.com
Canada's governor general eats seal heart
Governor General Michaelle Jean, the representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as Canada's head of state, gutted the seal and swallowed a slice of the mammal's organ late Monday after an EU vote earlier this month to impose a ban on seal products on grounds that the seal hunt is cruel.
Asked Tuesday whether her actions were a message to Europe, Jean replied, "Take from that what you will."
Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered Monday as Jean knelt above a pair of seal carcasses and used a traditional ulu blade to slice the meat off the skin. After cutting through the flesh, Jean turned to the woman beside her and asked: "Could I try the heart?"
She swallowed a piece whole and deemed it tasty, saying: "It's like sushi. ... And it's very rich in protein."
A spokeswoman for EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas offered no official reaction.
"No comment; it's too bizarre to acknowledge," Barbara Helfferich said.
Animal rights groups believe Canada's annual seal hunt is cruel, poorly monitored and provides little economic benefit. Sealers and Canadian authorities say it is sustainable, humane and provides income for isolated communities.
Barbara Slee, an anti-seal hunt campaigner at the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Brussels said she was disgusted by Jean's actions.
"The fact that the governor-general in public is slashing and eating a seal, I don't think that really helps the cause, and I'm convinced that this will not change the mind of European citizens and politicians" because the deal is largely finished, Slee said.
EU governments are to sign the ban into law on June 25th after the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impose the measure.
The new EU rule offers narrow exemptions so Inuit communities from Canada, Greenland and elsewhere can continue traditional hunts, but bars them from large-scale trading of their pelts and other seal goods in Europe.
Rebecca Aldworth, director of Humane Society International Canada, said Jean's actions were misleading and offensive because of the exemptions.
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Canada's governor general eats seal heart
Governor General Michaelle Jean, the representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as Canada's head of state, gutted the seal and swallowed a slice of the mammal's organ late Monday after an EU vote earlier this month to impose a ban on seal products on grounds that the seal hunt is cruel.
Asked Tuesday whether her actions were a message to Europe, Jean replied, "Take from that what you will."
Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered Monday as Jean knelt above a pair of seal carcasses and used a traditional ulu blade to slice the meat off the skin. After cutting through the flesh, Jean turned to the woman beside her and asked: "Could I try the heart?"
She swallowed a piece whole and deemed it tasty, saying: "It's like sushi. ... And it's very rich in protein."
A spokeswoman for EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas offered no official reaction.
"No comment; it's too bizarre to acknowledge," Barbara Helfferich said.
Animal rights groups believe Canada's annual seal hunt is cruel, poorly monitored and provides little economic benefit. Sealers and Canadian authorities say it is sustainable, humane and provides income for isolated communities.
Barbara Slee, an anti-seal hunt campaigner at the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Brussels said she was disgusted by Jean's actions.
"The fact that the governor-general in public is slashing and eating a seal, I don't think that really helps the cause, and I'm convinced that this will not change the mind of European citizens and politicians" because the deal is largely finished, Slee said.
EU governments are to sign the ban into law on June 25th after the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to impose the measure.
The new EU rule offers narrow exemptions so Inuit communities from Canada, Greenland and elsewhere can continue traditional hunts, but bars them from large-scale trading of their pelts and other seal goods in Europe.
Rebecca Aldworth, director of Humane Society International Canada, said Jean's actions were misleading and offensive because of the exemptions.
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Seal Products
27.05.2009 11:11
I can't think of anything I've seen that's been made of seal fur.
MoneyBot
Sporrans...
27.05.2009 13:08
A quick web search indicates that this practice may have to be phased out though - there is talk of it being banned in various jurisdictions and I'd be surprised if that hadn't happened in a few places already.
Related article (apologies for MSM link but it's directly related):
Kiltie
Indymedia Scotland link
27.05.2009 13:21
Kiltie
bizarre?
27.05.2009 14:17
I don't particularly think its bizarre at all. Its just another culture. That is like saying its bizarre that African villagers walk around with their breasts out or its bizarre that Japanese take their shoes off before entering their home.
I think the First Nation people have had an extremely rough history. I went to quite a few places in canada. Theres no work, the young generation are casting off their culture and identity, many turnto alcohol abuse and gambling. Anything that halps them save their culture from extinction has got to be a good thing surely. It think it is bizarre to to think otherwise.
yorik
This Stinks
27.05.2009 17:20
My first and only leather jacket was made from seal skin, something I dind't realise until it rained and I stunk of fish. My dog ate it. That and other products has become infected by big business.
>Theres no work, the young generation are casting off their culture and identity, many turnto alcohol abuse and gambling.
Like no one else has, that is a bit racist. The natives should be allowed to continue their sustainable hunter existence, but exporting it is crass and westernised. It is also perfectly decent for Europe to ban the products of the industrialisation of these creatures. Eat, it, skin it, wear it but don't fucking sell it for profit, don't kill just to have money for crap. That is crossing the line. How much of the profits of these poor creatures go to the Inuit and how much to outseide investors? Unemployment and alcohol abuse is a problem ? Ban alcohol there if you think that isn't a global problem. What the fuck do they need with jobs aka commerce? And why does Canada still have a 'governor' anyway?
Danny
not quite
27.05.2009 18:23
Well the inuits I met liveed in towns like you and I. They have houses, trucks and televisions etc. Their main source of income is from fishing which is constantly being stopped by governing powers who enforce when they can fish or not.
The younger generation then have nothing to do, so they turn to the big city by the promise of work and riches. The previously close-knit communities therefore fall apart as families are fragmented. The ones that move away change and shed their previous ties and traditions that they grew up with.
Basically, its economics that ultimately is leading to the destruction of all the first nation people. And a big part of this is having their livihoods removed.
You need to give somekind of explanation of why your calling me a racist. Sounds like your being the racist to me
yorik
Apology for the misunderstanding
27.05.2009 18:50
Danny