Eskimos

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Location: The Arctic Tundra

Profile manager: Pat x | Last profile change on 29 December 2009

15:34: Chris Whitten edited the Text and Category on Inuit Indians

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Categories: Native Americans

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1 Who are the Inuit People?
2 Customs / Traditions
3 Food
4 Shelter
5 Inuit Today
6 Fun Facts
7 References

Who are the Inuit People?

You might not be familiar the term Inuits but you have probably have heard of the Eskimos, these are actually both the same people. In 1977 the Inuit Conference held in Alaska officially changed the name Eskimos into Inuits. Inuits are people that live high up in the arctic regions like Greenland, Arctic North America and Siberia. These are extremely cold areas and are very hard live in, but the Inuits manage to survive these conditions. The weather is so cold that the Inuit people evolved over a long period of time and became smaller and more compact to stay warm. The average height of the an Inuit person is five foot four inches. Their height varies very little, less than two inches. They are a small and hardy race.

Customs / Traditions

The Inuit society centers around the family group. Since the Inuit live where it is cold and life is hard they need many people to work together to survive. The Inuit social life revolved around story telling, poetry and dance. Poems were sung and often accompanied by dancers who moved in imitation of the forces of nature. The people told stories about nature and the things around them. The caribou hunt, flight of birds or battling with the weather were common themes. Their religious beliefs also centered on the things around them. They believe in animism where all objects and living beings have a spirit. The spirits are not good or bad and cannot be controlled by prayer as we know it, but they can be influenced by magical talismans. All people can use the talismans but the best person for the job is a shaman. Inuit people would go to a shaman for help with a hunt, when they were sick or any other survival related problems. Like everything else about Inuit life their religion was strongly effected by their harsh living conditions.

Food

The Inuit rely heavily on hunting because they can’t farm due to the extremely cold environment that they live in. It is much too cold to grow any crops. The average diet for most of the Inuits consisted of mainly fish, seals, whales and other sea mammals. The seal is probably their most important resource because it is there year round and they use almost all parts of the seal. Seals provide them with them dog food, clothing, and materials for making boats, tents, and harpoon lines, and fuel for heat and light. In the summer the Inuits move to follow their food sources and start to hunt for caribou. On rare occasion they would also hunt for polar bear, fox, hare and Arctic birds. Most families would follow the fishing cycle that takes them from one end of there territory to the other. A lot has changed and most of the Inuit buy food from stores now.

Shelter

The Inuit had different types of shelters depending on the season. There are two main types of Inuit homes, walrus or sealskin tents for summer and huts or houses for winter. Winter houses are usually made of stone with a driftwood or whalebone frame covered with moss or sod. Some of the Inuit tribes in Canada also build Igloos in the winter months. The Inuit people have a unique challenge because they live in the arctic where no trees can grow. They had to use materials that were on hand and the most abundant thing near them is snow. The hunters would cut blocks of packed show into rectangular blocks to build the dome shaped igloo. They would leave a hole in the top so the smoke from their cooking fires could vent out the top.

Inuit Today

Inuit life has changed significantly over the past century. Many Inuit people live in permanent homes and shop in stores the same as we do. Traditional storytelling, mythology, and dancing remain important parts of the culture. Family and community are very important. The Inuktitut language is still spoken in many areas of the Arctic and is common on radio and in television programming. Global warming is having serious effects on the Inuit. The ice is not as big as it once was and the habitat of the native animals like polar bears and seals is being destroyed. The Inuit are becoming more like us every year, they have TV, Sodas, and motorized snowmobiles. I wonder how long they will keep their traditions?

Fun Facts

Inuit throat singing or katajjaq is a purely Inuit art form. To me it sounds a bit like beat boxing. Watch the video below to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtzBZGGy2l8

Speaking Inuktituk - If you want to hear someone learning how to speak Inuktituk, the Inuit language you can watch this: (it sounds pretty hard) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_nCCp6QFEc To learn a few more phrases click on the chart on the right to make it bigger.

Inuit Song in Inuktituk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwVaUuqV-QE&feature=PlayList&p=43F263E28E9E38E3&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=34

Drum Dance - You can watch a traditional Western Arctic Inuit drum dance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW0Q6d8MrqI