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Arctic People

D ifferent Inuit have different types of clothing. The Inuk below

is wearing clothing typical of the North American Inuit.

T he Dorset and Thule Cultures started in Alaska. They were the first people to learn how to survive the Arctic winter. They are the ancestors of the modern Inuit.

The Thule Culture These early groups hunted musk-ox, which roamed the slopes and plains of the tundra. The people did not depend on the sea for their livelihood. They were gradually replaced by another culture that also developed around the Bering Strait, particularly at St. Lawrence Island. This group hunted whales and seals as well as land animals. They had large boats covered in walrus or seal skin and could hunt in the sea ice as well as from the shore. They also made sleds for traveling over snow-covered ground. In winter they lived in low, half-buried homes with stone floors and massive whale bones to hold up the roof. They were called the Thule

The Names of Arctic People Today the people of the Arctic are divided into many groups, or tribes. Each group has its own customs, identity, and name. They are known by the collective name Inuit. This means “The People” and is the name most groups prefer to be called. A single person is an Inuk. The Inuit are sometimes called Eskimos. This word comes from native North Americans and means “eaters of raw flesh.”

Culture and were a highly successful people. Like the Dorset Culture, they spread across North America to Greenland. Because they were skilled hunters at sea as well as on land they were able to make full use of the limited Arctic resources. B one was used to make this comb and other finery by the Thule Culture around 1100 CE .

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