Beyond Race, Hunting is Human
Last weekend I had the opportunity to take my friends Rod and Martissa on their first hunt. Martissa had hosted me on her show, the Nekkid Podcast — you can hear that episode here — where she helped me to understand some of the barriers to entry she was feeling as a black woman interested in becoming a hunter. She’s got a defining interest in human freedom, and the idea of hunting and gathering integrates perfectly with her personal mission.
Now, regarding the conversation of race and hunting in modern America, I recommend you listen to the WildFed podcast we recorded together: Episode 53 — Beyond Race, Hunting Is Human. There we touch on some of the concerns, fears, and implicit biases that create cultural barriers that many white hunters might never have considered.
Having experienced my own challenges entering the hunting world as an adult and knowing how challenging it can be, the idea of additional barriers — in this case racial ones — really impacted me. So, I offered to host her and her partner Rod for a squirrel hunt. Though it was a day's drive for them, they accepted and made their way from Rochester, NY to small-town Maine to chase an animal neither of them had really thought of as a food before.
Because they were both — understandably — skeptical of the culinary value of squirrels (which the uninitiated love to remind us is a rodent), I decided to have a meal of braised, pan-fried squirrel “wings” ready for their arrival. It seemed to me that having an appreciation for them as a food would make the hunt a lot more meaningful. Chasing, and ultimately killing, an animal you don’t think of as food isn’t a motivation for most of us. But from their very first bite, they were converted. Now, squirrel was on the menu!
We spent Saturday hunting together and experienced the full range of emotions that a group hunt provides. Excitement, camaraderie, reverence, laughter, joy, predatory focus, the gratitude that comes with a harvest, and the sorrow that comes with loss. You’ll hear all those stories in the episode as well, so be sure to listen in.
Though we just had Saturday to hunt, we spent most of Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday morning talking about and exploring some of the cultural inertia and legacy impacts that have left modern American hunting such a monochromatic space. But more than that, we also bonded deeply as friends and fellow hunters. Hunting together, though only a small part of the solution, seemed like just the right way to start breaking down those cultural barriers that have kept the modern American hunting culture from being a more diverse and colorful place.
Hunting together was a reminder that this ancient human practice transcends race — in fact, it transcends all human divides or perceived differences. After all, hunting is something that every human lineage shares in common. It's our species inheritance — it’s how we got here — and it bonds each of us together. No one, not a single living human, is excluded from that legacy.
Hunting is who we are. Hunting is Human.
Please, give the show a listen, and share it with a friend.
