1. The Inuit

2. Inuit Arrival in North America
The Inuit were the last native people to arrive in North America. Scientists who study people groups (Anthropologists) believe that the Inuit are not closely related to other First Nations groups in Canada. The Inuit came to the far north much later and from a different area of Asia. When they arrived, they found that all of the good land to the south was already occupied by hostile Indians, so they settled in the Arctic. Nobody else wanted to live in this land because it was one of the coldest and most difficult climates in the world to live.
Some scientists believe that there was another type of Inuit group called the Dorset Natives already living in the this area. The Inuit legends tell that these earlier Natives were much taller people and they did not have dogs. It may be these people that the Vikings (we will learn about the Vikings in the third term) saw while in Canada. The last Dorset Inuit did not live past the year 1500.
Dorset Inuit
Modern Inuit

3. Inuit regions Inuit Region
The Inuit are the only First Nations group in Canada that can be found on all three ocean coasts (Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic) and across all of Canada’s northern land. Today there are eight major Inuit regions across Canada. The Inuit in each of the regions are very similar, yet some of these groups have developed small differences based on what was available to them in their area they lived. The eight regions are:
Western Arctic Inuit
Copper Inuit
Netsilik Inuit
Caribou Inuit
Igloolik Inuit
Baffin Island Inuit
Quebec Inuit
Labrador Inuit

4. Different Inuit Copper Inuit knife Caribou copper arrowhead
Western Arctic Inuit – almost half of all Inuit are western Arctic Inuit. This region is rich in resources and is the only Inuit region that has small trees which these Inuit used in making winter housing.
Copper Inuit – The Copper Inuit are the only Inuit to have access to large deposits of copper that they used in making knives and arrowheads.
Netsilik - Their name means "people of the place where there is seal“ since seal meat makes up a large percentage of their food.
Caribou Inuit – This area is rich in caribou which is mainly what these Inuit eat.

5. Different Inuit by regions
Labrador Inuit man
5. Igloolik Inuit - The name "Igloolik" means "there is an igloo here" in Inuktitut, the Inuit language. These Inuit were experts in igloo construction.
Baffin Island Inuit – Baffin Island is divided between the Igloolik Inuit and the Baffin Island Inuit.
Quebec Inuit – located around Ungava Bay and the western coast of Hudson’s Bay.
Labrador Inuit – located along the Atlantic coast of Labrador.

6. Environment
The Canadian Arctic is one of the coldest and most unforgiving environments on Earth. Winters are long and cold, often with little sunlight. The people and the animals of the Arctic were forced to adapt to these harsh surroundings in order to survive.
They adapted every aspect of their lives, from shelters, to food, to transportation in order to survive in the cold north.
They lived in a very large geographic area, and were some of the most sparsely distributed people on the planet. With only a few thousand people in total, the Inuit occupy a region that is 770, 000 square miles, larger than Alaska, and three times larger than Spain or France. France has over 65 million people in one third the space!

7. Environment Winter Landscape Arctic Tundra Arctic summer
Winters were long, so the Inuit had to live with ice and deep snow most of the year.
In the far north, there were even periods of complete darkness during the winter, sometimes for months at a time, when the sun did not rise above the horizon.
There were frequent windstorms, which caused blowing snow and large snowdrifts along the barren landscape.
The summers were short, cool, and only lasting a couple of months every year.
In the very northern areas (near the north pole), there were periods of continuous sunlight in the summer when the sun never fully set.
The only time that plants were able to grow was during the summer, and since summers were so short, only small plants, like mosses, lichens, and scrub bushes were able to survive before winter arrived again.

8. Inuit housing
The Inuit were nomadic people which means they rarely stayed in one place for very long. They followed the animals they needed to eat. Therefore, their houses had to be quick and easy to build.
During the summer, the Inuit built tents out of driftwood or poles covered with animal skins, mostly caribou or sealskin. These tents were similar to the teepees of the First Nations who lived on the plains. (we learn about them next term)
A ring of boulders around the base held down the tent skin covering.
Since wood was so hard to come by, the wooden poles used to make the tents were of great value and were heavily guarded.
People from different areas would form large villages during the summer. In the winter everyone scattered across the land into small bands again.

9. Log and Sod House
Log and Sod houses made By the western Arctic Inuit Remains of a log And sod house From around 1880
The Inuit of the western arctic lived in the richest part of the high arctic and had access to trees.
They used them to build permanent log-and-sod houses in which they lived mostly in the winter.
They dug a shallow hole in the ground and set up a ring of vertical poles.
The poles were tilted inwards at the top so that blocks of sod could be piled up over them and remain in place.
The result was a log-and-sod hut with the floor below ground level which helped preserve warmth.
A fireplace provided the warmth.
Sometimes villages of 10 to 20 of these log-and-sod houses were set up.

10. During the winter, Inuit families would follow the hunt
During the winter, Inuit families would follow the hunt. This meant that when the animals moved , the Inuit would move. When the animals stopped, the Inuit would stop as well.
They needed a shelter that would keep them warm and protect them from the harsh winter weather, but also one that could be made quickly from what the Inuit could find in the area.
The most common winter shelter was a snow house, more commonly known as an 'igloo'.

11. Igloos
Igloos are constructed out of large snow blocks. The Inuit builder had to make sure the snow was strong enough to be made into blocks. The best snow comes from a snow bank formed by a single snowstorm. Blocks taken from snow banks formed over two or three storms tend to break easily because of the layers within the snow. The snow that falls in your backyard would not be good for making an igloo.
The builder would use a long stick to probe the snow to feel its strength. If the snow was good, he would cut blocks.
The blocks are arranged in a large circle, and then a slightly smaller circle of blocks is laid on top, followed by a still smaller circle, and so on. Soft snow was used to fill any holes, and add extra insulation.
Once all the blocks except the last one have been placed, the last step is to find a block that is slightly too large for the last opening on top. Place it on top of the igloo and wiggle it into place, shaping as needed. It should be shaped to fit exactly in the opening.

12. Building the igloo
The final result of the building process is a dome, which is a very strong structure. A finished igloo can support the weight of a man standing on the roof. Ventilation holes must be cut into the walls and roof to prevent suffocation. Air holes also prevent body heat and smoke from causing dangerous levels of carbon dioxide.
Some experts say that a well-constructed igloo with a very small oil lamp and plain body heat can warm an igloo up to 40 degrees above the outside temperature. So, if it is -40°C outside, the igloo has the potential to warm up to 0°C. How does this happen?
As the interior of the igloo heats up from body heat and seal oil lamps, the blocks slowly melt and then refreeze, transforming the igloo into an even stronger house of ice. The best igloos are ones that have been sitting in the sun for a few days which makes them very strong and very well insulated.

13. Inside the igloo
The entrance to an igloo is also very important. Most modern igloos made by people living in the southern part of Canada have a large opening, which is not how the Inuit made them. Most igloos had a small tunnel from the outside which went down and then up into the igloo. This allowed cool air to fall into the tunnel and warm air to rise. The Inuit would often build their beds near the top of the igloo to take advantage of the warmest air.
Inside, snow walls may be covered with animal skins for extra warmth. Ice pads covered in animal skins would be used as beds.
On occasion, many igloos could be attached to each other connected by tunnels. This would give the Inuit more freedom to move around.

14. The igloo today
People in many countries have taken the simple igloo and transformed it. Some have used the simple shape to make small metal igloos or igloos with artistic designs. Others have used the igloo shape for large permanent buildings like arenas or hotels.
The ‘igloo’ where the Pittsburgh Penguins played.

15. More igloos
The Fridge Igloo, by German artist Ralf Schmerberg built from 312 old refrigerators.
Plastic bottle igloo

16. The Igloo church in Nunavut
The Igloo church in Nunavut. It was built to resemble an igloo in many details. Notice how the outside and inside white walls were designed to look like blocks of snow.

17. Hunting Caribou Walrus seal Summer:
The Inuit were mainly hunters, and they relied heavily on the animals of the Arctic for most of their needs. The Inuit were skilled hunters and were able to catch food year-round, even during the harsh and long winters.
Each season of hunting was different, so depending on the season they would hunt for different animals.
Summer:
Summers were spent fishing and hunting caribou in the interior regions of the Arctic and hunting seal and walrus along the coasts.
One of the most important animals to the Inuit was the caribou. The Inuit used all parts of the caribou in their everyday lives.

18. Summer hunting
The caribou meat was used for food and their thick and warm skins were more commonly used for jackets, gloves and parkas.
Summers were also spent fishing for Arctic Char, whitefish and trout.
Deer, musk ox and bear were also hunted in the summer.
Polar bears were caught for their hide. Their meat is poisonous to eat because of high levels of vitamin C.
Musk ox

19. Winter hunting
Hunting and fishing was harder during the winter months because of the thick ice and snow that blanketed the Arctic, but the Inuit were still able to find food.
Seals were the main source of food during the winter months for many of the Inuit.
Hunters would wait, sometime for hours, at a seal's breathing holes in the ice, then kill them with a harpoon when they came up for a breath.
Fishing was a little different. When a fish appeared below an Inuit he would strike downwards with a fishing spear (or kokiwog) which would grasp hold of the fish. The kokiwog has flexible arms made from the horns of a musk ox so the fish, once speared and retrieved, can easily be released.

20. More hunting
Some sea mammals, like whales, seals, walruses, beluga whales and narwhals were hunted in the open water in both winter and summer. Whenever the Inuit saw one, they would try to kill it for food.
Some sea mammals that were hunted for and what they were used for:
Seal: meat to eat and skin for water proofing
Walrus: ivory (tusks) for knives and art, and meat (mostly for the dogs to eat)
Beluga Whales: skin for water proofing, food like muktuk (outer skin plus the blubber)
Narwhal: ivory for spears, meat for dogs to eat
Some land animals that were hunted:
caribou, musk oxen, arctic fox, polar bear, arctic hare, arctic birds.

21. Inuit tools Inuit stone knife ulu knife Ivory harpoon heads
Most tools that the Inuit used were made out of stone or parts of animals, like bone, ivory, antlers, teeth, and horns.
When fishing, the Inuit attached sealskin floats to their harpoons (with lines). These lines stopped the animal from sinking after it was speared.
Most harpoon heads (the sharp part) were made out of ivory from walrus tusks or whalebone.
To catch fish they also used fishing lines, nets, and three-pronged spears.
For hunting, the Inuit used spears, bow and arrows, clubs and stone traps.
The Inuit used knives for cutting meat, snow and ice.
A special knife that the Inuit used was called an 'ulu'. Ulus were used for skinning animals, preparing the animal skins, and for butchering.

22. Inuit Food
Dried caribou Frozen meat cut by a saw (modern photo) Frozen raw caribou known as ‘quak’
If you were an Inuit, meat was the main source of food. There were no Inuit vegetarians!!
The Inuit had several ways of preparing their meat and fish to eat.
The first way was to cook the meat and eat it fresh. This was not very common because of the shortage of fuel (like wood) for cooking.
The second way was to dry the meat as a way to preserve it, similar to beef jerky that we can buy.
The last and most common way was to eat the meat raw, including birds! Frozen raw caribou was called ‘quak’.

23. More Inuit food
Eggs Raw fish Dried fish eaten with Rancid (rotten) Seal blubber
In the absence of trees, birds build nests on the ground. The eggs could be collected easily by the Inuit and eaten raw. This was done generally only in the early part of the nesting season. Birds that had eggs taken from their nests early in the nesting season will lay another egg to replace the one taken. This made sure that no bird species becomes endangered.
Some fish that was dried to be eaten later had to be remoistened. The Inuit used rotten seal blubber for this! The dried fish would be soaked in the blubber and then chewed heavily before it could be swallowed. Yummm!!

24. More Inuit food Inuit woman picking berries Raw seal liver
Although the Arctic summers were short, wild plants did produce berries. The Inuit gathered wild blueberries and raspberries to add to their diet. This short time of fresh berries was a welcomed treat!
With their diet being mostly meat, you might question how the Inuit avoided getting scurvy which is a shortage of vitamin C. Most vitamin C comes from fresh Citrus fruits (oranges) and other vegetables. However, there is another source of vitamin C….. Raw Seal Liver!
Raw seal liver was a special treat to the Inuit. Once a seal was killed, it was usually slit open on the spot, the liver was located, removed, and still warm and steaming, was hungrily eaten by all….Yumm!!
Inuit woman picking berries
Raw seal liver

25. More Inuit food
Muktuk drying muktuk bannock
Another favourite food for the Inuit was Muktuk. Muktuk is made from the skin and blubber of the Bowhead Whale, although the beluga whale and the narwhal are also used. It is usually eaten raw.
Early explorers of the Arctic region brought the Inuit’s first taste of flour and lard. To this day, this combination, called bannock, is fried and eaten. Dried berries can be added for flavour.