Eugene:
You are quite right in asserting that eskimos eat diets which consist
primarily of meat and/or fish. Since they live in a habitat which is
unsuitable for most plant life to grow, there really is no other option.
I don't think that Eskimos feel tremendous amounts of trauma for killing
their food. I think that it is instead viewed as survival and as natural.
Killing is necessary for the survival of the community at large - for the
same reasons, suicide (particularly amongst the elderly) is an accepted
and even "encouraged" practice - tis better for one member of the clan
to die, than for that member to be a burden on the other members. Death
is not viewed as "unnatural" and neither is hunting.
While they may not be as "healthy" as those of us who practice strict
vegetarianism, they have survived as a people for tens of thousands of
years - it works for them to hunt :)
Tj.
