The Inuit

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Recommended: limitation of indigenous education

The Inuit

I. Intoduction

The Inuit are people that inhabit small enclaves in the coastal areas of

Greenland, Arctic North America, and extreme northeastern Siberia. The

name Inuit means the real people. In 1977 the Inuit Circumpolar

Conference officially adopted Inuit as the replacement for the term

"Eskimo." There are several related linguistic groups of Arctic people.

Many of these groups prefer to be called by their specific "tribal" names

rather than as Inuits. In Alaska the term "Eskimo" is still commonly used.

I. Physical Characteristics and Regional Groupings

The Inuit vary within about 2 inches of an average height of 5 foot 4 inches,

and they display metabolic, circulatory, and other adaptations to the Arctic

climate. They inhabit an area spanning almost 3200 miles and have a wider

geographical range than any other aboriginal people and are the most

sparsely distributed people on earth.

II. History

The Inuit share many cultural traits with Siberian Arctic peoples and with

their own closest relatives, the Aleuts. The oldest archaeological sites

identifiable as Inuit date from about 2000 BC and are somewhat distinct

from later Inuit sites. By about 1800 BC the highly developed Old Whaling

or Bering Sea culture and related cultures had emerged in Siberia and in the

Bering Strait region. In eastern Canada the Old Dorset culture flourished

from about 1000 to 800 BC until about AD 1000 to 1300. The Thule Inuit,

who by AD 1000 to 1200 had reached Greenland, overran the Dorset people.

There, Inuit culture was influenced by medieval Norse colonists and, after

1700, by Danish settlers.

III. Language and Literature

The l...

... middle of paper ...

...

every three years. It provides a forum for Greenland and North American

Inuit to discuss common problems, lobby for an Inuit voice in the planning of

economic development, and promote the preservation of the environment.

Bibliography

Ray, Dorothy Jean. Aleut and Eskimo Art: Tradition and Innovation in South Alaska. Washington, 1981, 1986. Scholarly survey of traditional and market art. Companion book on North Alaska, 1977.

Burch, Ernest S. Jr. The Eskimos. Oklahoma, 1988. Heavily illustrated introduction to the traditional culture of the Inuit and the Aleut.

Wilder, Edna. Once Upon an Eskimo Time. Alaska Northwest, 1987. An accurate account of Eskimo life before the white man.

Elibrary.com , http://www.elibrary.com/s/encartal/search.cgi, line 418:

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