They are not viewed as inferior beings, but in some ways as superior creatures. Their sensory input permits them to know things we can not perceive. This belief in the intelligence, sensitivity and even superiority of the animals made traditional Alaskan peoples reverent toward the game they needed to kill in order to feed themselves, in order to survive. And it is the universal belief that since the animals know more, see more, hear more, sense more, they are willing victims who offer themselves to the hunter. The unusable remains must also be treated respectfully, returned to the habitat from which the animal was taken.
Recycling is an ancient practice in the Arctic.
Orthodox missionaries did not discourage this belief that life in all its forms should be treated reverently. Their Alaskan converts heard the Paschal Gospel from within the context of their traditional worldview, and saw Christ in the whole created universe, the Word of God in the Cosmos, in a way even the missionaries had not seen Him before. And the first chapter of the letter to the Colossians took on a meaning that was always there, but had gone unnoticed, or at least under appreciated, for centuries. Only now they knew His Identity. In fact, however, he did not.