Inuit

• 1. Origins And Precontact History

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  Around 1000 CE, the Thule people emerged from the Bering Strait and western Alaska. They split from related Aleut groups about 4000 years ago before spreading eastward across the Arctic. These migrants displaced the Dorset culture, known as the Tuniit in Inuktitut, which was the last major Paleo-Eskimo culture. By 1100 CE, Inuit migrants had reached west Greenland where they settled. During the 12th century, they also established themselves in East Greenland. Legends describe the Tuniit as giants who were taller and stronger than the incoming Inuit. Less frequently, oral traditions refer to them as dwarfs. Researchers believe that Inuit society held advantages by adapting to use dogs as transport animals. They developed larger weapons and other technologies superior to those of the Dorset culture. Faced with population pressures from surrounding groups like Algonquian and Siouan-speaking peoples, the Tuniit gradually receded. The Tuniit were thought to have become completely extinct as a people by about 1400 or 1500. However, researcher Henry B. Collins determined in the mid-1950s that the Sadlermiut were likely the last remnants of the Dorset culture based on ruins found at Native Point on Southampton Island. The Sadlermiut population survived until winter 1902, 1903 when exposure to new infectious diseases brought by contact with Europeans led to their extinction as a people. In the early 21st century, mitochondrial DNA research supported the theory of continuity between the Tuniit and the Sadlermiut peoples. A subsequent 2012 genetic analysis showed no genetic link between the Sadlermiut and the Dorset or Thule people. In contrast to other populations, the Aleut and Sadlermiut benefited from both geographical isolation and their ability to adopt certain Thule technologies.

• 2. European Contact And Colonial Impact

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  The first well-documented contact between Europeans and Inuit occurred during Martin Frobisher's 1576 search for the Northwest Passage. Frobisher's expedition landed in Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island near what is now Iqaluit. He encountered Inuit on Resolution Island where five sailors left the ship under orders to stay clear of them. These men became part of Inuit mythology and lived among them for a few years before dying attempting to leave in a self-made boat. Frobisher captured three Inuit and brought them back to England possibly making them the first Inuit ever to visit Europe. By the mid-16th century Basque whalers were already working the Labrador coast and had established stations like Red Bay. Early relations with these whaling stations were based on mutual interest in trade rather than hostility. The Moravian Church began missionary activities in Labrador in the final years of the 18th century supported by the British who were tired of raids on their whaling stations. Mass death was caused by new infectious diseases carried by whalers and explorers to which Indigenous peoples had no acquired immunity. The Hudson's Bay Company opened trading posts such as Great Whale River in 1820 today the site of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik. Commander William Edward Parry twice over-wintered in Foxe Basin during his 1821, 23 expedition providing the first informed account of Inuit economic social and religious life. After about 1350 the climate grew colder during the period known as the Little Ice Age forcing many Inuit to abandon hunting sites as bowhead whales disappeared from Canada and Greenland. During the Second World War and Cold War Arctic Canada became strategically important for great powers. The construction of air bases and the Distant Early Warning Line in the 1940s and 1950s brought more intensive contact particularly through public education for children. In the 1950s the Government of Canada undertook what was called the High Arctic relocation moving 17 families from Port Harrison to Resolute and Grise Fiord in early September 1953. These families were dropped off when winter had already arrived on land that was very different from their home territory with only a couple of months when temperatures rose above freezing. Thirty years passed before they were able to visit Inukjuak again.

• 3. Political Sovereignty And Land Claims

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  In 1939 the Supreme Court of Canada found in a decision known as Re Eskimos that Inuit should be considered Indians and were thus under the jurisdiction of the federal government. Native customs were worn down by actions of the North-West Mounted Police who enforced Canadian criminal law on Inuit. By 1953 Canada's prime minister Louis St. Laurent publicly admitted that they had administered vast northern territories in an almost continuing absence of mind. The government began establishing about forty permanent administrative centers providing education health and economic development services. Regular visits from doctors raised birth rates and decreased death rates causing a marked natural increase in population making it harder to survive by traditional means. In the 1960s the Canadian government funded secular government-operated high schools bringing together young Inuit from across the Arctic for the first time. This exposure to civil rights rhetoric stimulated the emergence of new generations of activists in the late 1960s. Inuit Tapirisat of Canada formed in 1971 later becoming Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. Various activist movements changed the direction of Inuit society starting with the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in 1975. This comprehensive land claims settlement set the precedent for future settlements. Canada's 1982 Constitution Act recognized Inuit as Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut worked for ten years and came to a final agreement with the Government of Canada in September 1992. The Nunavut Final Agreement was approved by nearly 85 percent of Inuit of what would become Nunavut. The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was signed on the 25th of May 1993 in Iqaluit by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Paul Quassa. The Canadian Parliament passed supporting legislation in June enabling the 1999 establishment of Nunavut as a territorial entity. On the 30th of October 2008 Leona Aglukkaq became the first Inuk to hold a senior cabinet position as Minister of Health.

• 4. Language Diversity And Revitalization

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  Inuit speak Inupiaq Inuinnaqtun Inuktitut Inuvialuktun and Greenlandic languages belonging to the Inuit-Inupiaq branch of the Inuit-Yupik-Unangan language family. Inupiaq is spoken in Russia where it has been nearly extinct with most speaking Central Siberian Yupik or Russian predominantly. In Canada three Inuit languages have official status from territorial governments including Inuvialuktun in the Northwest Territories and Inuinnaqtun across Nunavut. Inuktitut is the most widely spoken Inuit language in Canada serving as an official language alongside English in Nunavut. Kalaallisut is the official language of Greenland divided into Western Northern and Eastern dialects. Inuit in Alaska and Northern Canada typically speak English while those in Greenland learn Danish and English in school. Deaf Inuit use Inuit Sign Language which is a language isolate and almost extinct with only around 50 people still using it. The word Eskimo likely derives from an Innu-aimun exonym meaning 'a person who laces a snowshoe' though this etymology is debated. In Canada and Greenland Inuit is preferred over Eskimo which is considered pejorative by some Canadian and English-speaking Greenlandic Inuit. Since Inuktitut and Kalaallisut are prestige dialects their version has become dominant although every Inuit dialect uses cognates from Proto-Eskimo for example iivit in East Greenlandic means people. In 2011 Lawrence Kaplan updated his indication that the term Inuit has gained acceptance in Alaska.

• 5. Traditional Subsistence And Technology

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  Inuit have traditionally been fishermen and hunters harvesting bowhead whales ringed seals polar bears muskoxen caribou birds fish and Arctic foxes. Their typical diet was high in protein and very high fat consuming an average of 75 percent of daily energy intake from fat. While plants could not be cultivated grasses tubers roots berries and seaweed were collected depending on season and location. Anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson lived with Inuit in the 1920s observing that their low-carbohydrate diet had no adverse effects on health. Adequate vitamin C could be obtained from raw meat such as ringed seal liver and whale skin known as muktuk. Inuit hunted sea animals from single-passenger seal-skin covered boats called qajaq which were extraordinarily buoyant and could be righted even if completely overturned. They also made umiaq larger open boats made of wood frames covered with animal skins for transporting people goods and dogs. In winter they used dog sleds called qamutik pulled by teams of husky dogs bred from wolves for transportation. Dogs played an integral role assisting with hunting by sniffing out seals' holes and protecting villages by barking at bears. Traditional clothing was made from animal skins sewn together using needles made from animal bones and threads from sinew. The amauti women's parka featured a back compartment below the hood to allow mothers to carry babies against their backs. During winter certain Inuit lived in temporary snow shelters called igloos while others built sod houses or tents known as tupiq during warmer months.

• 6. Modern Demographics And Health Challenges

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  In total there are about 155,000 Inuit living in four countries Canada Greenland Denmark and the United States. In Canada there were 70,540 people identifying as Inuit in the 2021 census up from 65,025 in 2016. Over two thirds live in one of four regions comprising Inuit Nunangat including Nunavut where 30,865 Inuit make up the majority population. Greenland has 50,878 Inuit representing 88 percent of its total population according to 2024 estimates. The population size of Greenlandic people in Denmark varies between 15,000 and 20,000 with 17,067 residing there as of 2023 figures. Modern Inuit have lifespans 12 to 15 years shorter than the average Canadian's influenced by diet and limited medical access. During the 19th century Western Arctic suffered a population decline close to 90 percent resulting from exposure to new diseases including tuberculosis measles influenza and smallpox. In October 2017 federal Minister of Indigenous Services Jane Philpott announced that tuberculosis was 270 times more common among Canadian Inuit than non-Indigenous southern Canadians. The Canadian Medical Association Journal published in 2013 noted that tuberculosis incidence in Nunavut reached 304 per 100,000 more than 66 times the rate seen in the general population. A pervasive European myth about killing elderly people is not generally true since elders are keepers of communal knowledge. However suicide rates remain disturbingly high among younger generations due to identity struggles between traditional heritage and modern society. Recent studies focus on increasing myopia in youngest generations attributed to changes in Western style diets and extended education.

• 7. Cultural Arts And Global Recognition

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  Inuit art carving print making textiles and throat singing are very popular globally with artists widely known. Canada adopted Inuit cultural icons like the inuksuk as symbols at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Respected galleries display Inuit art with the largest collection located at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Their traditional New Year is called Quviasukvik. An important biennial event the Arctic Winter Games features traditional sports held first in 1970 rotating among Alaska Yukon Northwest Territories Quebec Alberta and a joint Iqaluit-Nuuk staging in 2002. Jordin Tootoo became the first Inuk to play in the National Hockey League during the 2003, 2004 season playing for Nashville Predators. In 2002 the first feature film in Inuktitut Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner was released worldwide directed by Zacharias Kunuk and written filmed produced and acted almost entirely by Inuit of Igloolik. One of the most famous Inuit artists is Pitseolak Ashoona while Susan Aglukark remains a popular singer. Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk worked at preserving Inuktitut and wrote one of the first novels ever published in that language. In 2006 Cape Dorset was hailed as Canada's most artistic city with 23 percent of its labor force employed in the arts. Soapstone carvings remain one of Nunavut's most important industries. Well-known politicians include former Premier of Nunavut P.J. Akeeagok Lori Idlout Eva Aariak Commissioner Helen Maksagak and Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede. Leona Aglukkaq served as Health Minister starting in 2008 before taking additional portfolios including Environment in July 2013.