Table of Contents Table of Contents
Previous Page  13 / 14 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 13 / 14 Next Page
Page Background

13

Arctic People

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

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

.

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.”

D

ifferent Inuit have

different types of

clothing. The Inuk below

is wearing clothing

typical of the North

American Inuit.