ナショナルジオグラフィックさんのインスタグラム写真 - (ナショナルジオグラフィックInstagram)「Photo by @kiliiiyuyan / Alaska Native Flora Aiken gives a silent blessing to the first bowhead whale of the spring hunting season. The Iñupiat have a rich spiritual life that centers around the gift of the whale to their remote, subsistence-based community. Elder Foster Simmonds offered a prayer, saying, "Hide something for me. Look at the food, the whales. Look at the sea, the whalers. A blessing for them. Take that and hide it in your heart.” The whale was towed to the ice edge, where the villagers of Utqiagvik will help haul it onto the ice. Western perspectives generally view whaling negatively, a backlash to European whaling, which decimated the population of whales globally. Little known is that Alaska Natives nursed the bowhead whale population from around 8,000 to 17,000 in 30 years' time, while sustainably managing the whale hunts and feeding their people. Follow me @kiliiiyuyan, for more from the Indigenous world. #arctic #alaska #inupiat」9月29日 19時38分