Friday was an interesting day as Anna Michelle, one of the teachers in Fort Albany, phoned the ambulance base to let us know there was a presentation for the students on how to dress a Caribou. A local hunter had brought one of many caribou he had shot with a hunting party roughly 3hrs from town. Caribou are only hunted in the winter as it is much easier to track caribou in the snow and the herds can be reached by ski doo. The pics are pretty gory but its important to realize the cultural significance in teaching the younger generation traditional methods of obtaining food as there are very few families left which know how to hunt and prepare wild food. The kids seemed to be very interested in these kinds of presentations which leaves some hope for these skills to be passed on.
The local man was even kind enough to cut us off a piece of the tenderloin for dinner which we ate tonight. The Caribou was seasoned with garlic and rosemary and we made a red wine reduction with the drippings.
About Nick
Rudolph is a reindeer not a caribou…they are different animals though in northern Alaska they are known to interbreed making for smaller caribou in comparison to the ones in the southern regions of the state where there are no reindeer for them to interbreed with.
Donald thanks for your interest in our blog. Not sure why my reference to a fairy tale character concerns you so much but understand there are many names for the specific animal.
The term “Reindeer” is generally reserved for the smaller domesticated variety of northern Eurasia. Both are actually the same species falling under “Rangifer Tarandus.”
On both sides of the world there are 3 main adaptations of Reindeer/Caribou being the Perry Caribou – a tiny coastal animal with large antlers, the Barren Ground Caribou – a larger inland animal and of course the Woodland Caribou which is pictured here. The Eurasian side shows the same evidence of these Reindeer/Caribou adaptations although I’m sure under different names. All in all they are the same species whether you call them reindeer or caribou. I don’t think “Rudolf the Red Nosed Rangifer Tarandus” has the same ring to it.
Nick youre so smart! :~P
You made my mouth water reading your description of preparation. You two are awesome.