Inuit in #sealfie protest over Ellen Degeneres’ Oscar selfie
A Canadian community of Inuit has launched a Twitter protest against Ellen Degeneres’ famous Oscar night selfie, which raised $1.5m for the United States Humane Society – a major opponent of the seal industry.Seal hunting supporters began tweeting pictures of themselves wearing sealskin on Thursday (27 March) using the hashtag #sealfie, according to The Guardian. The posts highlight the harvesting of seals for skins and food from an Inuit point of view, a practice they see as ethical and culturally and financially beneficial.
A 'sealfie' posted by Twitter user @ujarock
@TheEllenShow I am an Inuit seal meat eater, and my fur is ethical, humane. #sealfie vs. #selfie pic.twitter.com/tI4c3NxbEY
— Alethea/Aggiuq (@Alethea_Aggiuq) March 26, 2014@TheEllenShow #sealfie pic.twitter.com/iqcdzmeXtY
— Sapatie Stokes (@Sapatie) March 26, 2014
@Alethea_Aggiuq: @TheEllenShow I am an Inupiaq seal meat eater, and my fur is ethical, humane. #sealfie vs. #selfie pic.twitter.com/ykQCOL2ANk
— Eda (@edals2) March 29, 2014
The website for the Ellen DeGeneres show calls seal hunting "one of the most atrocious and inhumane acts against animals allowed by any government," according to reports.Hundreds of #sealfie photos have been posted on Twitter by people hoping to put a human face on the practice, with 17 year old Killaq Enuaraq-Strauss posting a YouTube video entitled “Dear Ellen” to share her “perspective” and to “educate you a bit on seal hunting in the Canadian Arctic”.