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A girl eats dried whale meat in a smokehouse.

Beluga Harvest

Video Series

Accompany a modern Inuvialuit family in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., on their annual whale harvest and learn about their culture.

A view from a helicopter flying over a fjord.

Extraordinary Arctic

Check out this view on Arctic-related activities, events, research, etc. at the museum.

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A girl eats dried whale meat (mipqu) in a smokehouse.

Myrna Pokiak © Pokiak Photography

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Qilalukkat!

Belugas and Inuvialuit: Our Survival Together

Learn about beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) and their relationship with the Inuit people of the Western Arctic, the Inuvialuit.

Explore the history and traditions of beluga harvesting, which continues to be a vital part of present-day Inuvialuit life.

Experience a Tuktoyaktuk family’s journey, from preparing to storing the food provided by their annual beluga harvest.

See ancient artefacts, modern tools and beluga-inspired arts and crafts. Stroll through a re-created camp and smokehouse.

Discover how Inuvialuit and scientists work together for beluga conservation.

Three children and an adult cleaning fish.

Family members use both modern and traditional tools to clean and prepare fish for drying. Myrna Pokiak © Pokiak Photography

Exterior view of a smokehouse and camp.

Maureen Pokiak puts freshly-cooked muktuk (whale blubber and skin) on cardboard to cool. Myrna Pokiak © Pokiak Photography

Inside a beluga smokehouse.

Whale meat and whitefish drying in the smokehouse. Myrna Pokiak © Pokiak Photography

An Inuvialuit woman and her three daughters.

The exhibition’s curator, Myrna Pokiak, was born and raised in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T. Here she is with her three daughters: Mya, Launa, and Kara. Myrna Pokiak © Pokiak Photography

Historic photo of a young male beluga harvester.

Whale harvesting has always been part of Inuvialuit culture and survival. Here, Bertram Pokiak prepares a harpoon head. Richard N. Hourde/Hudson's Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba: HBCA-1987-363-E-341-052

A girl looks at dried beluga meat hanging.

The tradition of harvesting provides much-needed food for winter and teaches the next generation how to sustain the Inuvialuit way of life. Myrna Pokiak © Pokiak Photography

Take a brief tour of the exhibition.

Northern Voices Gallery

Special Exhibitions

Qilalukkat! is showing in our Northern Voices Gallery, which is located within our Canada Goose Arctic Gallery. Through such temporary special exhibitions, the Northern Voices Gallery provides an opportunity for Northern communities to share their own perspectives about the Arctic and their relationship with the land.

Focus on the Arctic

Canada Goose Arctic Gallery
Explore Canada's mysterious, vulnerable and unique Arctic.

A Window into the Arctic
Catch a glimpse of life in the North: browse current photos on social media by the people who live and travel in the Canadian Arctic.