High Country News

A meal of many seasons

An exploration of living in direct relationship with the land, water, plants and animals in and around Uŋalaqłiq.

ANY TIME I ask Timm, my husband, if he wants nikipiaq for supper, he says yes. On a recent Sunday, the northeast wind blew cold Arctic air against our home, the woodstove crackled steady all day, and I wanted Native food. The entire spread, shared with my Dad and my brother’s family, is a meal made up of fare gathered, plucked or hunted throughout the year, and harvested for nights like this.

Timm was at the kitchen island, cutting clean the surface of a block of beluga the size of his hand. We saw the motion-sensing

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