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As longtime residents of the Arctic's jade-coloured waters, belugas have traditionally been hunted by Inuit people for generations. More than simply a food source, beluga hunting is the economic and cultural backbone of some groups of Inuit peoples. In the 19th century, the Kittegaryumiut, the largest Inuit village of all of Arctic Canada, took part in an annual communal beluga hunt that took place from early-July to mid-September.

In these summer months, hundreds of Inuit would drive the belugas onto sandbars, where they would be slaughtered. The whales would be butchered on the beach, after which their meat would be air-dried or smoked and their blubber cooked down into oil over driftwood fires.

The oil, derived from fat, can be used for heating, lighting and for storing food. The skin, known as muktuk, can be converted to dog food and the meat made into a traditional Inuit food source. The same hunting and processing of belugas is still practiced by present-day residents of the Mackenzie Delta.

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