Seal Blood, Inuit Blood, and Diet: A Biocultural Model of Physiology and Cultural Identity

Abstract

Inuit models of nutrition constitute an integral part of Inuit cultural identity and influence diet selection. Interviews were conducted among five elders, the adults of three extended families (illagiit), and two other individuals to develop a model of food ingestion and health. The focus of the model is the special relationship between seals and Inuit. The cultural model has four linked components which provide an explanation of why Inuit select the foods they do. Inuit nutritional knowledge, as expressed in the cultural model, complements current scientific nutritional knowledge and can be shown to influence individual behavior under certain circumstances. Cultural models are shown to be useful for articulating the relationship between culture and individual health behaviors, such as diet selection.