Eskimo: First Used by Europeans in The 1500s To Describe The Arctic People

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Eskimo: First used by Europeans in the 1500s to describe the Arctic people.

Algonquian for “eaters of raw flesh.” Considered by many to be a negative term.

Inuit (Also “Yuit”): Siberian and Alaskan for “people.” Preferred term.

Appearance:

 broad and round faces


 high cheekbones
 narrow eyes
 epicanthic eye fold
 black hair

Groupings:

 Greenland Inuit
 Labrador Inuit (Newfoundland to Hudson Bay)
 Central Inuit (Canada, Baffin Island, West Hudson Bay)
 Banks Island Inuit (Islands off Arctic Coast)
 Western Arctic Inuit
 Alaskan Inuit and Yuit
 Siberian Yuit

History:

 Migrated across Bering Strait to Arctic North America


 2000-1800 BC arrived in Siberia
 1000 BC to 1300 AD eastern Canadian Dorset Inuit thrive
 Overrun by the Thule Inuit, who reached Greenland by 1200 AD
 Thule Inuit influenced by Norse culture, and by Danish culture in the 1700s
Survival and Economics:

 Hunted whale, caribou, walrus, fish and seal


 Mainly lived in hide tents, used igloos as emergency shelter during long
journeys
 Wore clothes made from animal skins

Law and Order:

 Obligation to help one’s kin


 No shared legal constitution
 Community ridicule used as social control
 Settle feuds through wrestling matches or song duels

Community and Education:

 Monogamy is the norm; Polygamy and Polyandry accepted


 Marriage based on divisions of labor
 Women cook, dress animal skins, and make clothes
 Men hunt, build houses and fish
 Kinship built with temporary wife exchanges

Motivation and Activities:

 Provocative displays of emotion strongly disapproved


 Seasonal hunting and fishing cycles
 Nomadic
 Animism
 Shamans
 Myths reveal concern with survival
 Carved ornaments and masks of ivory, driftwood and whalebone

Modern Inuit:

 Work in mining, construction, and government agencies


 Will hunt, serve as tour guides, and sell artwork
 Created the Alaskan Federation of Natives (1966)
 Working to determine land claims, control of economy and political rights
 More than 120,000 Inuit live today in Greenland, Alaska, Canada and
Siberia

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