As he hauls the ringed seal into the vessel, he says he counts himself lucky to have found one so quickly. "Sometimes you have to drive around here in the boat nearly all day to find a seal," Shiwak says. "Nowadays you can't even afford to - $60 only gets you five gallons of gas."
Nunatsiavut - one of four Inuit homelands in Canada - is where the subarctic becomes the Arctic. An autonomous region of LabradorNewfoundland province, it is located at the extreme north-east corner of North America.
Winter temperatures here average -30C with the windchill, as the Labrador current brings Arctic ice floes down the coast, as well as a host of marine life from plankton to polar bears.
From November to June, shipping is impossible because sea ice covers the 15,000km coastline, so all food and supplies must be flown in. In Rigolet, afrozen 1.5kg chicken will set you back $25. Hunting here is more than tradition; it's a necessity.
On the rocky beach, Shiwak butchers the seal with precision, turning the water crimson as crows caw overhead. As a boy, he learned to hunt and fish with his father and grandfather, who had learned from their elders.
It is also how Shiwak learned the core Inuit values of taking only what is needed, sharing, sustainability and respect for nature - values he is passing down to his children. Dane, 13, is at school but Shiwak knows he will want to be first to hear about the seal.
Traditional knowledge has allowed Inuit to survive in this harsh environment for a long time but the climatic conditions are changing quickly. Since 1950, Nunatsiavut has lost 40 days of ground snow a year. Its sea ice is vanishing faster than anywhere in the Canadian Arctic. By November, the shoreline would usually be covered in ice, and people would be putting away their boats and dusting off their snowmobiles. Winters are becoming warmer, wetter and shorter, as Shiwak will testify.
Denne historien er fra September 01, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 01, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
If kids get protected from online harm, how about the rest of us?
The Australian government has proposed a ban on social media for all citizens under 16.
'It's not drought - it's looting'
Spain is increasingly either parched or flooded - and one group is profiting from these extremes: the thirsty multinational companies forcing angry citizens to pay for water in bottles.
Life in the grey Zone
Neonatal care has advanced so far that babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived. But is this type of care always the right thing to do?
Out of tune? Band Aid under fire for Africa tropes as it turns 40
Forty years ago this month, a group of pop stars gathered at a west London studio to record a single that would raise millions, inspire further starry projects, and ultimately change charity fundraising in the UK.
Deaths shine spotlight on risks of drinking on party trail
Vang Vieng is an unlikely party hub. Surrounded by striking limestone mountains and caves in central Laos, it morphed from a small farming town to a hedonistic tourist destination in the early 2000s.
Different strokes My strange and emotional week with an AI pet
Moflin can develop a personality and build a rapport with its owner - and doesn't need food or exercise. But is it comforting or alienating?
Strike zone Waking up to the rising threat of lightning
When the Barbados National Archives, home to one of the world's most significant collections of documents from the transatlantic slave trade, reported in June that it had been struck by lightning, it received sympathy and offers of support locally and internationally.
Cheap pints and sticky carpets: the old-school pub is back
In the Palm Tree pub, east London, barman Alf is taking only cash at the rattling 1960s till.
Brain gain Can a radical tax scheme convince the country's brightest to stay?
In the autumn of 2018, I moved to Lisbon for a month-long course at the Universidade .de Lisboa.
Fear and sympathy in small town divided over asylum camp
A year after anti-immigration riots, a site for asylum seekers faces hostility while some locals try to help new arrivals
