{"id":14266,"date":"2025-08-21T13:14:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T13:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guardna.wpenginepowered.com\/8-10-flokkur\/kunningarkort\/nytslur\/culture-identity-spirituality\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T13:14:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T13:14:06","slug":"culture-identity-spirituality","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/guardna-educ.com\/fao\/8-10-flokkur\/kunningarkort\/nytslur\/culture-identity-spirituality\/","title":{"rendered":"Culture, identity & spirituality"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u2190 Back to information cards<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Culture, identity & spirituality<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload card<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Faroese painting portraying pilot whale killing \u00a9 S\u00e1mal Joensen-Mikines<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMarine mammals hold a special place in the culture of many communities. They have represent for millennia an accessible, abundant and often lifesaving resource<\/a>. As such they are essential part of some coastal communities\u2019 gastronomic, cultural and spiritual identity, gaining the communities\u2019 admiration and respect. Their enigmatic behaviour and graceful mastering of an alien and difficult environment make them fascinating creatures to many.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhales and seals appear in peoples\u2019 legends all over the world. Bowhead whales are an important symbol of Inuit perseverance and culture. For some Pacific Northwest communities, orcas are connected to ancestral spirits and can take the body of a drowned person to the deep ocean and transform it into one of them.\nIn Celtic and Norse mythology, seals are associated with transformation and mystery; the mysterious and enigmatic Selkies<\/a> can shape-shift between seal and human forms by removing or putting on their seal skin. Seals are also messengers of the Inuit sea Goddess Sedna, who controls the abundance of marine animals.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sedna is the Mother of the Sea and marine mammals in Inuit mythology \u00a9 Anthony Galbraith<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBecause some whales and seals were severely overexploited<\/a> by the Global North<\/a>, they became its symbols for caring about nature and protecting the environment. The album \u201cSongs of the Humpback Whale” in the \u201870s by Roger Payne supported the “Save The Whales” movement. The replacement of whale oil<\/a> by easier-to-get products, coupled with the need to protect some populations<\/a>, led to a cultural shift resulting in the adoption of a moratorium<\/a> on large whale hunting by the International Whaling Commission in 1982. In parallel, the anti-sealing campaign grounded on moral concerns, led to the EU ban against the import of seal products in 2009. This does not change the fact that marine mammals remain a resource<\/a> for many people all over the world.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Anti-whaling protesters in the \u201870s \u00a9 Angela Deane-Drummond \/ Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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References<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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[1] United Nations (General Assembly). (1966). Article 27 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Treaty Series, 999, 171. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.14430\/arctic2611<\/a><\/p>

[2] Sakakibara, C. (2011). Climate Change and Cultural Survival in the Arctic: People of the Whales and Muktuk Politics.\u00a0Weather, Climate, and Society<\/em>,\u00a03<\/em>(2), 76-89.\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1175\/WCAS-D-10-05007.1<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Did you know that....<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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