RANKIN INLET, Nunavut – First she gutted it. Then she had the heart pulled out of its furry, flabby carcass. Finally, she swallowed a slice of the mammal's dripping organ.

And when it was all over Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean wiped the blood of a freshly slaughtered seal off her crimson-spattered fingertips.

The Governor General made a graphic gesture of solidarity with the country's beleaguered seal hunters on the first day of a week-long Arctic visit yesterday.

Hundreds of Inuit at a community festival gathered around as Jean knelt above a pair of carcasses and used a traditional ulu blade to slice the meat off the skin.

After eating the dripping chunk, she turned to her daughter, Marie-Eden, to say it tasted good.

She expressed her dismay that anyone would call traditional Inuit hunting practices inhumane.

Jean gestured to the hundreds of people in a packed arena and noted that they would all be fed by the meat laid out on a tarp on the floor.

"It was absolutely delicious," Jean said. "These are ancient practices that are part of a way of life.

"If you can't understand that, you're completely missing the reality of life here."

The European Union voted earlier this month to impose a ban on seal products.

For years, animal rights groups have intensely lobbied European politicians to implement a ban.

The European Union bill still needs the backing of EU governments. But officials say that's only a formality. The ban, expected to take effect in October, would apply to all products and processed goods derived from seals, including fur, meat, oil blubber and even omega-3 pills.

Locals here warn it will be one more shock to a region that already suffers from chronic economic woes and a staggering array of social problems.

Jean said the hunt is practiced humanely. And her snack was "very rich in protein," she said.

The locals expressed their wish more outsiders would see things that way. They explained they don't use the hooked hakapiks that have faced such bitter criticism from environmentalists.

They said they use guns or harpoons, and can't understand why their industry is considered less humane than cattle farming.