Indigenous People Inuit are a people who live near the Arctic. Their homeland stretches from the northeastern tip of Russia across Alaska and northern Canada to parts of Greenland. Inuit refers to the people formerly called Eskimos. The term Eskimo comes from a Native American word that may have meant 'eater of raw meat'. They prefer the name Inuit, which means 'the people' or 'real people' and comes from a language called Inuit-Inupiaq. The singular of Inuit is Inuk, which means 'person'. As the Inuit spread eastward, they modified their way of life to suit the Arctic environments they encountered. They caught fish and hunted seals, walruses and whales. On land, they hunted caribou, musk oxen, polar bear and other small animals. They used animal skins to make tents and clothes. They crafted tools and weapons from the animals' bones, antlers, horns and teeth. In summer, they traveled in boats covered with animal skin, called kayaks and in winter, on sleds pulled by dogteams. Most Inuit lived in tents in the summer and in large sod houses during the winter. When traveling in search of game in winter, they built snowhouses. THE LAND The Inuit live in one of the coldest and harshest regions of the world. Inuit lands include the northeastern tip of Siberia, the islands of the Bering Sea, and the coastal regions of mainland Alaska. They also include the north coast and islands of the Canadian Arctic and most of the west coast and part of the east coast of Greenland. The region is often called the Land of the Midnight Sun because at a certain point of the year the sun can be seen for twenty-four hours. At the North Pole, the sun never sets for six months from about March 20 to September 23. Around the Arctic Circle, however, such a period of uninterrupted sunlight lasts for only a few days around June 21. The communities in the Arctic are centers for trade, commerce, culture and education. The sizes range from as small as a few people to much larger centres with a few thousand people. However large or small, each community has its own history and is surrounded by its own unique landscape. The Inuit are a race of people both strong in spirit and in mind. The Inuit cultural identity is firmly rooted in nature and the land. It is maintained through storytelling, drum dancing, language, family and cultural laws and traditions, the passing on of traditional hunting and survival skills and traditional arts and crafts. The traditional way of life has ended for most Inuit. They live in wooded homes rather than snowhouses, sod houses or tents. They wear modern clothing instead of animal skin garments. Most Inuit speak English, Russian, or Danish in addition to their native language. The kayak and the umiak have given way to motor boats, the snowmobile has replaced the dog team. Today's Inuit must compete in the modern economic world instead of the world of nature. While some Inuit have adjusted to the new way of life, unemployment, suicide and addiction are major problems. On top of all that, industrial and nuclear pollution are poisoning their traditional homelands and food sources. Hunting techniques and harvesting patterns have changed drastically over the past several decades. No longer are the Inuit subjected to only the dogsled and kayak. With the age of technology, snowmobiles, outboard motor boats and high-powered rifles have become familiar in everyday lives. The modern Inuit can now hunt with much more ease than their ancestors. Only recently have land claim agreements been signed, allowing the aboriginal peoples a hold a legal claim to what they have always considered to be their land.
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