APTN News reported that a group of about 30 Iqaluit hunters and trappers completed the city’s first bowhead whale harvest since 2022. Hunt captain Solomon Awa said the group harvested the whale on Friday, Aug. 21, after eight days on the water. Hunters brought maktaaq and meat to Iqaluit beginning Sunday, Aug. 23, where it was made available for free at the causeway. ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗

Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre’s executive director told APTN the centre collected maktaaq, served half-kilogram portions with its Monday meal, froze some whale fat for people to take and began preparing some fat for fermentation. ᓇᑭᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦ↗

The completed harvest provided country food directly to people in Iqaluit through free distribution and a community food-centre meal. It also involved newer hunters alongside experienced participants, according to those interviewed by APTN. The story should not claim the harvest solved food insecurity or quantify how many people were fed: those outcomes have not been independently documented in a public record.

No further decision, funding program or formal distribution schedule has been announced. Awa told APTN that maktaaq remained available through the hunters and trappers association freezer and that some could be sent to Sanikiluaq. Atiilu News Desk should seek direct confirmation from the Amaruq Hunters and Trappers Association before publishing any current availability or intercommunity distribution details.

APTN published the report Sept. 3, 2026. A separate Nunatsiaq News report corroborates that the whale was harvested Aug. 21 and that people gathered at Iqaluit’s breakwater for distribution on Aug. 24. Neither report links to a public licence, harvest report or association notice. Do not report the estimated amount of food, number of recipients, public funding total, or claims about conservation status unless independently confirmed with original records or the responsible organizations.