Inuit

Arctic

• The Inuit were mainly hunters, and relied heavily on the animals of the Arctic as their main source of food.

• Since very little vegetation could survive in the Arctic climate, the Inuit could not depend solely on plants for food.

Inuit

The Inuit were skilled hunters, and caught food year-round, even during the harsh winters.

Sea mammals were usually hunted during the winter when they were out on the ice. However, some sea mammals, like

whales, were hunted in the open water. Seal: meat and skinSealskin and blubber were also used to make clothing, and materials for boats, tents, harpoon lines, and fuel for light and heat.

Beluga Whales: skin, food like muktuk (outer skin and blubber)

Walrus: ivory (tusks), and meat (mostly for the dogs) Narwhal: ivory, meat for dogs

Some land animals that were hunted - caribou, musk oxen, arctic fox, polar bear, arctic hare, arctic birds

Caribou: meat and skin Polar Bear

Arctic Hare Arctic Fox Musk Oxen

Seals were the main source of food during the winter months.

•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. •The Ringed Seal was the most important marine mammal, because they were a year-round source of food for the Inuit.

Inuit Shelters•An igloo was a temporary, dome-shaped shelter made out of snow blocks. •The blocks were cut from the snow, and piled in a spiral shape, leaning in slightly. This gave the igloo its dome shape.

•Soft snow was used to fill any holes, and add extra insulation.

•Depending on the size of the igloo, it usually took the Inuit 20-30 minutes to build.

•Larger, more permanent igloos could reach 4 metres in diameter and 3 metres in height.

•Sleeping platforms were made of ice blocks, covered with fur.

Inuit Summer Shelter•The Inuit were nomadic people, so they rarely stayed in one place for very long. 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. •Since wood was so hard to come by, the wooden poles used to make the tents were jealously guarded. •People from different areas would form large villages during the summer.

Inuit

“Inuit Cultures, Traditions, and History” - http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/polar/inuit_culture.html

“The Arctic Inuit in Olden Times” - http://nativeamericans.mrdonn.org/arctic/inuit.html

Textbook page 43