Meet the Inuk who grew up in the Arctic – hunting and eating raw beluga whale meat and reindeer soup and wearing clothes made from seal skin.<br /><br />Willow Allen, 24, grew up living in the town of Inuvik, in the Northwest territories of Canada, and lived off the land to survive.<br /><br />Willow and her family hunt different animals during the seasons to eat – in the spring they hunt geese and caribou, a type of reindeer, and beluga whales in August.<br /><br />They have 33 days of no sun in the winter – with temperatures dropping to as cold as -40C – and wear traditional mukluks, boots made from seal skin or moose leg and caribou, to keep warm.<br /><br />In the winter they get around on snowmobiles and by boat in the summer.<br /><br />Willow, a model and social media influencer, now studying social work in Saskatchewan, Canada, said: “In the winter there, since we are so far up north, we don’t see the sun for 33 days.<br /><br />“We go up to the coast and hunt beluga whales.<br /><br />“We eat the skin or fat.<br /><br />“You can eat it raw, frozen or boiled.<br /><br />“It has a very strong taste.<br /><br />“When dried it is like beef jerky in texture.<br /><br />“It’s not like anything else I have eaten.<br /><br />“It’s always been a part of Inuvialuit culture. We never take more than we need.”<br /><br />Only Inuvialuit are allowed to buy and sell beluga whale and Willow has to get a special licence to transport the meat down South.<br /><br />Willow’s town has a population of 3,500 people and has two grocery stores with essentials – but is 15 hours away from the closest Starbucks and McDonalds.<br /><br />She said: “People prefer hunting.<br /><br />“We typically hunt different animals.<br /><br />“We hunt geese in spring - and freeze it.<br /><br />“In August, we hunt caribou when they migrate from Alaska.<br /><br />“We eat caribou soup, and my family would always make this.<br /><br />“We hunt beluga whales.<br /><br />“In the winter we hunt moose and go ice fishing.<br /><br />“In September and October there are berries all over the land.”<br /><br />Inuvialuit tend to use a range of traditional hunting like harpoons and fishing sticks to catch their food.<br /><br />As well as hunting for food they use the animals to make their clothes.<br /><br />Willow has traditional parka coats with a fur-lined wolverine hood, mukluks and seal skin and silver fox mittens.<br /><br />She said: “Animals like moose, caribou and rabbits have always been something we’ve relied on for food and clothing that traditionally get us through the harsh winters.”<br /><br />Willow said Inuvialuit are “very community oriented” and they celebrate the end of the winter with traditional games.<br /><br />She said: “We get together the celebrate the changing of the sun.<br /><br />“It’s called muskrat jamboree.<br /><br />“We play games like who can skin a muskrat the fastest and harpoon throws.”<br /><br />Inuvialuit make traditional medicine such as Labrador tea and tree sap.<br /><br />Willow has now moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, with her boyfriend, Cale Kindra Chuck, 25, a business student, while she is at university but visits her family as often as she can.<br /><br />She said: “I would love for my kids to know our culture we have in the north.”
