7. Daily Life - North

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A. Aboriginal Canada →→ 1. Turtle Island → 2. First Nations - East → 3. Daily Life - East → 4. First Nations - West → 5. Daily Life - West → 6. First Nations - North → 7. Daily Life - North →→ B. Early European Explorers

Inuit Village Group, 1865

The Canadian Arctic home of the Inuit is an immense territory of over two million square kilometres of glaciers, mountains, rolling tundra and sea coast. In each of the nine main regions of this vast territory, Inuit settlers adjusted to different surroundings, modifying their traditional hunting practices and technologies to survive.

Drilling Ivory

Most of these Inuktitut speakers came to live in camps of two or three related families, since small groups stood a better chance of surviving than larger bands. Once or twice a year they might gather with others at fishing camps by waterfalls, or sealing camps on the ice in interconnected igloos, often to share or swap food and possessions, meet potential spouses, or join in feasting, playing drums, enjoying games like "cup and pin and "cat's cradle", recounting legends, or singing about their hunting prowess. Some women performed "throat singing", making deep resonant sounds in the larynx. One highlight of these camps was a tug-of-war between those born in summer and those born in winter. The people believed that if the winter side won, there would be rich hunting that season.

Sleeping Baby

The Inuit and their ancestors were the first Arctic people to become expert at hunting larger sea mammals, such as the bowhead whale and walrus. One small whale could weigh seven tonnes, which gave enough food for a large extended family to survive for months. The Inuit hunted whales and walrus in the autumn, and in the winter seal. But they also made journeys inland to hunt caribou, which they caught by building converging lines of stone figures called inukshuks to drove the deer into traps. They also snared migrating ducks and geese, and fished for Arctic char and lake trout. Caribou gave them food and skins for warm winter clothing, while the down from waterfowl gave them a light warm insulating material.

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Technology & Change

Harpooning from a Kayak

Inuit technology was a superb adaptation to one of the harshest life conditions on Earth. Their kayaks and umiaks were superb cold water craft.

The kayak was a single-person hunting canoe that was completely enclosed except for a watertight opening. The umiak was a larger, open, boat covered by hide that they used for moving goods and families, and hunting whales and walrus.

Their harpoons were superb weapons, with a head that toggled when it entered the hide of the animal, and prevented escape. They also developed larger harpoons with floats that could hold a whale until it perished.

Sled Dogs or Huskies, called Qimmiq

For seal hunting on the ice, the Inuit developed long bone probes that could locate the animal's breathing holes, and small seats that let the hunter wait until a small wisp of feather told him when to plunge the harpoon home. They had goggles for reducing the glare off the ice, which perfectly prevented snow blindness.

Inuit dog sleds and larger sledges were another innovation for a people who lived a migratory existence. They allowed small family groups to travel widely across frozen tundra, extending their hunting range. During the short summer the Inuit stored their sleds and winter gear under caches of large rocks to prevent them being gnawed by small silver foxes. Dogs were also used for carrying packs in summer, and could become a source of food in emergencies.

Large Igloo c1900

The Inuit also perfected the art of quickly building snow shelters (igloos) with special snow knives. These could be heated to a comfort level merely by soapstone lamps fuelled by seal or whale oil along with the warmth of human bodies. They were also served well by the high quality of their caribou and sealskin parkas, leggings and mukluk boots, crafted by Inuit women using 5,000-year-old tribal patterns from Asia.

The Inuit religion was a form of shamanism. Shamans (called angakoks) healed the sick, maintained the system of taboos, and tried to divine the best hunting sites by magical incantations and tricks. They acted as mediators with the spirit world, particularly the goddess Taleelayo, or Sedna, who lived under the sea.

Inuit could be precarious. In bad years, especially when the caribou failed to appear, elderly people and even babies were abandoned when the family had to move on. Some groups had a system where each hunter had to share his catch with relatives according to a strict formula set by the shaman.