Many of these game animals and subsistence activities are frequently depicted in the pictorial engravings. Scenes from the hunting of bowhead whales, walrus, and caribou are by far the most popular motifs. The marked seasonal differences in the annual cycle are reflected in the pictorial engravings, and provide important clues to their interpretation. This clear depiction of seasonal time is an unusual feature of indigenous pictorial art of the Americas.

In the past, to be a good hunter, it was not enough to master certain technical skills. The success of a hunter also depended on the respect he and his family showed towards the animals hunted. Animals were regarded as non-human persons, each possessing an inua or spirit. If the animals felt they were not respected, they would not make themselves available to a hunter. Thus, it was important for the hunter and his family to follow certain rules, fulfilling ritual obligations and respecting taboos in connection with hunting. For instance, sea mammals that had been taken were offered some fresh water as a welcome. Although practices have changed in some ways, the respect towards the animals and the environment that grew out of these beliefs is still alive today. This is reflected in these twentieth-century anecdotes:

‘This is how whales think. They gather before reaching Tikiġaq [Point Hope] village and say to each other: “We won’t approach those skin boat owners who wives are stingey. But if they are generous, we’ll go to their skin boats, and those people can take us!” The whales like people who will share their meat out.’ Told by Piquk Solomon Killigivuk, Point Hope.

‘Next winter, he said: “Go fetch my whale’s jawbones. So they took a sled, went north and hauled the bones from the sea ice into the village. Then they set them in the ceiling of their ceremonial house. Later they quarrelled about these bones, and one cracked that winter.”’ Told by Asatchaq Jimmie Killigivuk, Point Hope.

‘Utuqiiñ had no seen caribou. He hadn’t even seen ptarmigan or lemming tracks! So he went back to the village. For sure he’d done something wrong to some other hunter. Or a shaman in the village had harmed him. All he got was a caribou shoulder he’d been given.’ Told by Asatchaq Jimmie Killigivuk, Point Hope 1976.