Knowing the Nerpa through Indigenous Body Practices

This article explores how Baikal seals (Pusa sibirica) are known and valued by Indigenous seal hunters and their families living along the shores of Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia. This study is grounded in conversations and shared participation in seal hunting trips, shoreline processing, and communal cooking and consumption practices. Through these engagements, the article brings together detailed knowledge of seal bodies, as shared with us by hunters and their families, including practical ways of preparing, consuming, and preserving seals, as well as the social meanings attached to specific body parts. Particular attention is given to how different portions of the seal body, such as fur, blubber, meat, internal organs, and bones, are distinguished, valued, used, and shared. By highlighting intergenerational seal hunting experiences, we emphasize enduring human-seal relationships in this region and their relevance for interpreting seal remains in archaeological contexts spanning the past 11,000 years.