Arctic Peoples

• The term Arctic peoples in Canada generally refers to the Inuit population
• Inuit homeland (Inuit Nunangat) comprises areas north of the treeline.
• Inuit Nunangat is comprised of four regions:
• Inuvialuit (in the northern parts of the Northwest Territories and Yukon)
• Nunavut
• Nunavik (in northern Québec)
• Nunatsiavut (in northern Labrador.)
• There are nine main Inuit groups in Canada:
• Labradormiut (Labrador Inuit)
• Nunavimmiut (Nunavik Inuit or Ungava Inuit)
• Nunatsiarmiut (Baffin Island Inuit)
• Iglulingmiut (Iglulik Inuit)
• Kivallirmiut (Caribou Inuit)
• Netsilingmiut (Netsilik Inuit)
• Inuinnait (Copper Inuit)
• Qikirtamiut (Sanikiluaq Inuit)
• Inuvialuit (Western Arctic Inuit or Mackenzie Delta Inuit)
• Historically, Inuit communities contained 100 –1,000 members who met for short periods during the winter
• During the rest of the year, Inuit lived in smaller bands, often composed of two to five families.
• Each household generally consisted of a married couple and their children
• Many economic and social activities involved inter-household co-operation, and widespread sharing was, and still is, a fundamental characteristic of Inuit social life.
• Many households included adopted children
• Children were an important means of establishing valued inter-family relationships through adoption, engagements, adult-child relationships established at birthing ceremonies, and naming practices.
• Fishing and food gathering (for bird eggs, shellfish and berries) were important seasonal activities, as were hunts for seals, polar bear and whale.
• Men used single-seat kayaks for hunting sea mammals, and for hunting caribou in rivers and lakes.
• People also preserved and stored goods for future use.
• Locally available materials, principally bone, horn, antler, ivory, stone and animal skins, made up most of their manufacturing.
• In some areas people used grass or baleen for basketry and other containers.
• Many Inuit inventions are considered technological masterpieces for their resourcefulness and strength of design, like the igloo, the toggling harpoon head and the kayak.
• As in many Indigenous cultures, the drum is a sacred cultural item among the Inuit
• Inuit vocal games, also known as throat singing, occurred among some groups
• In terms of sport and recreation, many Inuit compete in physical challenges that test one’s ability to high-kick, kneel-jump, and perform many other feats of strength and dexterity
• In 2011, there were nearly 60,000 Inuit in Canada, 73 per cent of whom lived in Inuit Nunangat.