Difference between revisions of "Tribes of the Arctic region"
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| − | The [[Native American]] people of the Arctic region consist of the Inuit (multiple tribes), Yupik, and Aleut. Explorers from warmer climates called them Eskimos | + | The [[Native American]] people of the Arctic region consist of the Inuit (multiple tribes), Yupik, and Aleut. Explorers from warmer climates called them Eskimos.<ref>Although the name "Eskimo" is commonly used in Alaska to refer to all Inuit and Yupik people of the world, this name is considered derogatory in many other places because it was given by non-Inuit people and was said to mean "eater of raw meat." Linguists now believe that "Eskimo" is derived from an Ojibwa word meaning "to net snowshoes." However, the people of Canada and Greenland prefer other names. "Inuit," meaning "people," is used in most of Canada. [http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/inuitoreskimo.html] </ref. |
The '''Inuit''' are a people of northernmost [[North America]], [[Europe]] and [[Asia]]. Their traditional range of inhabitation spans around the [[Arctic Circle]] from eastern [[Siberia]] across [[Alaska]] in the United States, the [[Northwest Territory]], [[Yukon Territory]], [[Nunavut]], [[Quebec]] and [[Newfoundland]] in [[Canada]], all the way to [[Greenland]] and the [[Faroe Islands]]. Anthropologically, they were a much studied people for their physical and social adaptations to severe cold. | The '''Inuit''' are a people of northernmost [[North America]], [[Europe]] and [[Asia]]. Their traditional range of inhabitation spans around the [[Arctic Circle]] from eastern [[Siberia]] across [[Alaska]] in the United States, the [[Northwest Territory]], [[Yukon Territory]], [[Nunavut]], [[Quebec]] and [[Newfoundland]] in [[Canada]], all the way to [[Greenland]] and the [[Faroe Islands]]. Anthropologically, they were a much studied people for their physical and social adaptations to severe cold. | ||
Revision as of 18:16, November 10, 2008
The Native American people of the Arctic region consist of the Inuit (multiple tribes), Yupik, and Aleut. Explorers from warmer climates called them Eskimos.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag.
The funerary ceremony of the Inuit involved the family and close friends of the deceased placing the corpse on a small ice flow or canoe and casting it out to sea.
Religion
Christianity was brought to these pagan people by missionaries in the early 19th century and while pagan cultural rites have persisted, Christianity is the sole theistic religion practiced.
History
Until the great northern explorations of Henry Hudson, the Inuit were unknown to Europeans other than the Vikings, who had already conquered the coastline of Greenland from them. Arctic explorers such as Admiral Byrd and Commodore Perry wrote about encounters with the Inuit in their journals, which were later popularized in the fiction novels of authors such as Jack London.
The first Inuit recorded on film was Nanook of the North, whose eponymous documentary by Robert J. Flaherty from 1922, showed all the modern world the curious arctic life of the Esquimoux (as they were then called). Some initial reactions to the film claimed it to be a hoax, but these objections quickly subsided.[1]