TRAVEL
HISTORY
PEOPLE/CULTURES
SCIENCE
ENVIRONMENT
COUNTRIES
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| Inuit
Facts |
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Total Population |
110,000 |
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Arctic Homelands |
Alaska,
Canada, Greenland, Russia |
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Origins |
Siberia,
20,000 years ago |
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Languages |
Inupik |
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Traditional Activities |
Fishing,
hunting, trapping, crafts |
| Religion |
Animistic |
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The term Eskimo means "eaters
of raw meat" and was used as a derogatory term
by Native American groups of eastern Canada in referring
to their northerly neighbors.
The igloo was only used as a temporary
shelter on extended winter hunting trips and not as
a permanent home.
The shaman was regarded as the
central religious figure in traditional Inuit culture.
His functions included: blessing the hunt; treating
sickness; and providing advice in times of crisis.
Traditional Inuit clothing was
made from the skins of birds and animals (seal, caribou,
and polar bear). They used sinew thread and bone needles
to sew hooded jackets, pants, and waterproof boots
which were well adapted to Arctic conditions. |
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Inuit People
The word inuit means 'the people' and is used throughout the
Arctic to describe a diversity of cultures ranging from the Kalaalit
in Greenland to the Inupiaq
of Canada, the Alutiiq in Alaska,
and the Yup'ik in Siberia. A
hardy, adaptable people one of the most striking aspects of traditional
Inuit culture is its relative religious, social, and economic homogeneity
across more than 5,000 miles of Arctic coastal and tundra expanse.
The ancestors of present-day Inuit probably traveled from Eurasia
eastwards across northern Canada to Greenland.
The basic language is divided into three major dialectical groups--Inupik
speakers in Greenland
and Canada, Inupiaq
speakers in northern Alaska
to the Seward Peninsula, and Yupik speakers in southwestern Alaska
and Siberia.
Inuit people live in one of the most inhospitable regions of the
world. Their land -- mostly tundra
consists of low, flat, treeless plains with permanently frozen ground
(permafrost). Although some groups are settled on rivers and depend
primarily on fishing for subsistence, others follow inland caribou
herds. Most Inuit, however, have lived primarily as hunters of maritime
mammals (seals, walrus, and whales), and their culture has always
been oriented to the sea for food and materials for clothing, shelter,
and weaponry. Deeply held cultural values stressed the excitement
and prestige of hunting and the need to appease the souls of animals
killed for food.
Current census data list 40,000 Inuit in Alaska; 30,000 in Canada;
40,000 in Greenland; and approximately 1,000 in Siberia. Wherever
they live, Inuit peoples have undergone significant changes in their
traditional ways of life. They have adopted much of modern technology
their educational, recreational, economic, religious, and governmental
institutions have been heavily influenced by the dominant cultures.
The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) is an organization representing
the rights of Inuit all across the Arctic region. Formed in Alaska
in 1977, in response to increased oil and gas exploration in the
Arctic, the ICC has sought to establish its own Arctic policies
based on indigenous knowledge and concerns about the environment
and future development.
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