The Arctic Native Americans

Created by: Iman, Jai-Lin, Josh, and Liam

Food

Meat and blubber are the basic foods of the Inuit diet. In cold climate fat was important and without fat people could not survive. Raw meat from seals and whales provides nutrients and vitamins A and D. Vetch root sorrel leaves, rose woods stems and seaweed are also foods they ate. They mostly got their food by hunting and fishing in their canoes.

Clothing

For an adult two pairs of parkas was what they wore. Hoods were trimmed with long fur and men’s winter clothing was made of just caribou skins. There is a belt tied around the mothers waist that holds her baby in place. They used sinew from caribou to make thread and women wore a pair of pants made from the skin of caribou belly.

Transportation

The Inuits would have to make kayaks to get from one place to another. Also they used anumiak which is an large open boat. It is 9 to 12 meters or 30 to 40 feet long so it can carry many people inside of it. Some of the Inuits main forms of transportation are kayaks, single person boats, and umiaks. Some of the boats were also 5 feet wide and made of wood and whale skins.

Beliefs

The Inuits believe that everything had a soul. Loon’s skin was sewn into the side of a kayak to give it good speed. When children are born they are sometimes given the name of a dead relative. Tattoos were generally seen on Inuit women.They believed that a soul of the dead person came and guided it in its early years.

Homes

The Inuit had no permanent homes. They switched homes depending on the season. Their summer homes were large tents. They made them out of sealskin and caribou. Their winter homes were made out of snow known as an igloo.

Family Life

In the Arctic region, different people in the family had different roles. The man’s role was to hunt animals for the family. Their role was also to teach boys how to hunt. The woman’s role was to knit clothes. Their role was also to teach girls how to knit. Those were some of the most important things for survival.

Language The Inuit’s

languages are Alaskan Yupik, Pacific Gulf Yupik, Siberian Yupik, and Eskimo-Aleut. Lots of Inuit children learned Eskimo-Aleut in village schools.