Muskox is reported to have been an important food source for Chandalar Kutchin (Gwich’in) [12] and Inuit [21, 24, 26, 27, 30]. Muskox is thought to have been particularly useful to Chipewyan [2], Iglulik Inuit [30] and Caribou Inuit [26] when caribou was scarce. Yellowknives (Dene), Dogrib and Hare (Sahtu) seldom hunted muskox due to the strong flavor of the flesh and difficulty in hunting [5].
Copper and Iglulik Inuit hunted muskox from June to late fall [24]. Netsilik Inuit hunted them in fall and winter [28]. Other Inuit communities and Dogrib hunted muskox in spring before break-up of the ice [7, 15]. Slave Lake and Bear Lake cultures (Sahtu) hunted in summer [10].
To hunt muskox, Inuit of Dorset were said to have used a lance made of bone [31]. Iglulik Inuit [30], Netsilik Inuit [27, 28], Caribou Inuit [26] and Baffin Island Inuit [21] used dogs to round up muskoxen and killed the animals with bow and arrow or lance. Inuit were reported to kill musk oxen with relative ease using a lance as their dogs held the herd at bay [34, 36, 37]. Greenland cultures hunted with wooden lances [14]. Utkuhikhalingmiut, a localized group of Netsilik Inuit, were thought to have driven herds into lakes before spearing them [28]. Dogrib were said to have used dogs and guns [7].
The Copper (Dene) were thought to have dried the meat to be consumed when on the land [9]. Inland and coastal Inuit consumed not only the meat, but also the partially digested stomach (rumen) contents as a secondary source of food [18]. Some cultures of the far north often described the odour of the flesh as disagreeable if the animal was not in good condition or was lean, but enjoyed meat from fatter animals, the adult leg bone marrow and fetal calves [33].
Apart from the flesh, Inuit also used various parts of the muskox. The skin was used as a runner for sleds, the horn was used as a ladle for a variety of purposes and as a leister when fishing [34, 36]. Cultures of the far north sold skins to traders who in turn had caps etc. made from them [33]. Yellowknives, Dogrib and Hare made robes and caps from the calfskin and flyswatters from the tail [5]. Dogrib made robes from the hide, and spoons from the horns [7]. Copper Inuit used the horn to make bows and the skin to cover platforms of entrances [23]. Netsilik relied on muskox bone (because of lack of driftwood) to make sealing harpoons and points, tool handles, composite bow, arrow points, leisters and fishing harpoons, spear and ice chisel points, ice scoops, many specialized instruments associated with breathing-hole seal hunting, and cross bars for sleds. Muskox horn was used as a blubber pounder to break down the frozen blubber to be used in oil lamps [28]. Caribou Inuit used horns to make soup ladles, ice scoops, bows and leister prongs; the skin was used for bedding and tenting [26].
Muskox has been described as a “living fossil from a past age”, and concerns over declining numbers have been documented since the 19th century [34, 36, 37] as well as more recently [13].
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The muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is a large hoofed mammal, included in the same family as bison (Bison bison), mountain sheep (Ovis spp.), and mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus). They occur on islands and mainland in the high Arctic tundra. They once disappeared from Alaska and some parts of Canada and are now protected by law in Canada and were reintroduced successfully in parts of Alaska.