street-food: Inuit culture

Evidence: 95 • authority: 72

The Inuit are an indigenous people of the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America (parts of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland). The ancestors of the present-day Inuit are culturally related to Iñupiat (northern Alaska), and Yupik (Siberia and western Alaska), and the Aleut who live in the Aleutian Islands of Siberia and Alaska. The term culture of the Inuit, therefore, refers primarily to these areas; however, parallels to other Eskimo groups can also be drawn. The word "Eskimo" has been used to encompass the Inuit and Yupik, and other indigenous Alaskan and Siberian peoples, but this usage is in decline. Various groups of Inuit in Canada live throughout the Inuvialuit Settlement Region o…

Evidence: 21 • authority: 88

Development of Mackenzie Inuit Culture. Prior to the appearance of Euroamericans and the cultural disruptions that followed in their wake, the western regions of the Canadian Arctic were occupied by Inuit groups who had strong affinities to specific home territories. Although each group had its own name, outside observers have applied the term “Mackenzie Inuit” to them collectively on the basis of shared cultural traits and their proximity to the Mackenzie River, whose resources first attracted them. Information from archaeology, historical records, and local oral histories is drawn upon to formulate an interpretive framework for the origins and development of Mackenzie Inuit over a period…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Historically, Inuit cuisine, which is taken here to include the Greenlandic, the Yupʼik and Aleut cuisines, consisted of a diet of animal source foods that were fished, hunted, and gathered locally. After hunting, they often honour the animals' spirit by singing songs and performing rituals. Although traditional or country foods still play an important role in the identity of Inuit, much food is purchased from the store, which has led to health problems and food insecurity. According to Edmund Searles in his article Food and the Making of Modern Inuit Identities, they consume this type of diet because a mostly meat diet is "effective in keeping the body warm, making the body strong, keeping…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Dorset was a Paleo-Eskimo culture, lasting from 500 BCE to between 1000 CE and 1500 CE, that followed the Pre-Dorset and preceded the Thule people (proto-Inuit) in the North American Arctic. The culture and people are named after Cape Dorset (now Kinngait) in Nunavut, Canada, where the first physical evidence of its existence was found by western science. The culture has been defined as having four phases due to the distinct differences in the technologies relating to hunting and tool making. Artifacts include distinctive triangular end-blades, oil lamps (qulliq) made of soapstone, and burins. The Dorset were first identified as a separate culture in 1925. The Dorset appear to have been…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Greenlandic Inuit or sometimes simply the Greenlandic are an ethnic group native to Greenland, where they constitute the largest ethnic population. They share a common ancestry, culture, and history; they natively speak one of the three Greenlandic languages. As Greenland is a country within the Kingdom of Denmark, citizens of Greenland are both citizens of Denmark and of the European Union. Approximately 89 percent of Greenland's population of 57,695 is Greenlandic Inuit, or 51,349 people as of 2012. Ethnographically, they consist of three major groups: the Kalaallit of west Greenland, who speak Kalaallisut the Tunumiit of Tunu (east Greenland), who speak Tunumiit oraasiat ("East Green…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Traditional Inuit clothing (Inuktitut: ᐊᓐᓄᕌᓂᒃ, romanized: Annuraanik) is a complex system of cold-weather garments historically made from animal hide and fur, worn by Inuit, a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic areas of Canada, Greenland, and the United States. The basic outfit consisted of a parka, pants, mittens, inner footwear, and outer boots. The most common sources of hide were caribou, seals, and seabirds, although other animals were used when available. The production of warm, durable clothing was an essential survival skill which was passed down from women to girls, and which could take years to master. Preparation of clothing was an intensive, wee…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Norse settlements in Greenland were established after 986 CE by settlers coming from Iceland. The settlers, known as Grænlendingar ('Greenlanders' in Icelandic and not to be confused with modern Greenlanders), were the first Europeans to explore and temporarily settle North America. They appear to have developed their own dialect of Old Norse, now called Greenlandic Norse, not to be confused with the Eskaleut Greenlandic language. The Thule people, ancestors of modern Greenlandic Inuit, began migrating into Greenland around 1200 CE, bringing advanced Arctic maritime technologies that allowed them to thrive in the environment and eventually becoming the dominant population by 1300 CE. The No…

Evidence: — • authority: 80

Inuit Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Subsistence Hunting and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Canadian Arctic

Evidence: — • authority: 88

Inuit Seal Hunting in Canada: Emerging Narratives in an Old Controversy. Seal hunting in Canada is a historically controversial topic. Animal rights groups have campaigned that Atlantic Canadians inhumanely slaughter thousands of “baby” seals every year. The work of these animal rights groups has led to changes in national fisheries regulations and markets. The market changes have greatly affected the livelihoods of many Atlantic Canadians, but even more so of the Inuit who also hunt seals in Canada’s Arctic regions. Animal rights groups largely excluded and ignored the Inuit who depended on the larger Atlantic Canadian seal market. However, Inuit have recently mobilized though social media…

Evidence: — • authority: 80

Saqqaq: An Inuit Hunting Community in the Modern Word, by Jens Dahl