Alaskan Native Artist Christy Ruby Main Land
Harbor Seal: Are traditionally hunted by Alaskan natives living in coastal regions. They utilize most, if not all of the harvested animal to this day. The parts of the seal that are not consumed are used in crafting functional and beautiful works of art. Seals are very oily mammals making their hide naturally waterproof.
Sea Otter: They are very plentiful in the cold Alaskan waters of south east. Unlike seals that have 2 inches of blubber that keep them warm, sea otters rely on their fur and voracious eating habits. This results in the densest fur in the world. Sea otter fur insulates against the cold with up to 1 million hairs per square inch.
Artist, designer Christy Ruby was born in Haines with French Canadian relatives on one side and Tlingit on the other. She's lived in Alaska all her life, and loves to fish and hunt with traditional values. Fly fish guiding, hunting seal and sea otter, and doing a variety of multimedia artwork are just some of her special talents.
Currently and for the past 15 years she's been a coin designer for a private mint in Alaska. You might have seen some of her coin designs in local shops throughout Alaska. She's designed coins for Palin, BP, NRA, Dale Earnhardt, Ducks Unlimited and continues to explore new possibilities.
I mainly hunt harbor seal and take a few sea otter once a
year. There are no limits of take on either of these animals and their populations are flourishing in southeast Alaska. In fact some areas have an over abundance and they are starving themselves out. The only requirement for hunting them is that you are at least 1/4 Alaskan native and live on the coastline of Alaska.
I use a 22-250 and reload my own ammo to take all my game, including deer. I salvage some seal meat and fat and donate to several groups of elders who can't get seal. It has the flavor of the ocean and is very dark and oily. I sell most of my hides to native women who still use sealskin to make tourist items. In northern Alaska, seal hunting has been costly with higher gas prices. I charge less for my skins because I don't have to go far to obtain seal. If I over priced my hides, the elders wouldn't make any money sewing their beautiful garments.
Our Alaska Federal Regulations on sea otters and seal:
A non-native cannot possess a tanned or raw hide until it is altered by a AK native and made into a handicraft. Exporting the handicraft out of the United States is illegal without obtaining a CITES permit obtained by USFW. Which at this time the permit can cost up to $100 and can take up to six months to process. I apologize not being able to sell outside the U.S.
