Connor McCreary

8/25/22
AML 2010
Inuit Culture
The term inuit is used to describe the indigenous peoples of far north America, and
Greenland as well. The language they speak is called Inuktitut, but there are differing dialects
like other languages. These dialects are the direct divisionary lines between different groups of
Inuit. We have the Kalaallit and Iit in Greenland, in Canada there are the Inuvialuit, the Inuinnaat
and Inuit. Alaska has Yupiit and Cupiit, but in Russia there are the Yupiget, Yupik, and Sugpiat.
Keep in mind these are the different names referring to the natives who are all collectively Inuit,
these are not warring tribes. The word Inuit means “people”, but an individual Inuit is known as
an Inuk. As for the term Eskimo, its origins are unknown but no group of Inuit ever referred to
themselves as Eskimos, it was people coming from the South, and by Early 16th century it had
essentially become a slur to refer to raw meat eaters, which the Inuit people are.
The natural habitat of Inuit tribes is not forgiving. They adapted to a very rigid, hostile
lifestyle in the snow, with limited options for vegetation and a dangerously low average
temperature. Because of this, they are great hunters, and like many other tribes, must use all parts
of an animal they kill. Whether this came out of necessity, or their belief systems, it is culturally
respectful to the animal to use all of its parts, disrespectful not to. Also, with limited food options
and a drastically unforgiving environment, the Inuit had to be very crafty people to survive.
Along with making use of all they had, they figured how to fasten armor from leather and bones,
they made dogsleds to help pull themselves through the snow faster than walking, and actually
this led to the modern-day kayak. The Inuit are
often credited with the invention of the harpoon,
which is incorrect to assume as it was also in use
in other cultures that never had contact with the
Inuit, they did invent the best handmade/pre-
industrialized harpoon.
As for housing, many Inuit people do live in ice-
block homes that we refer to as igloos, but in
warmer months they may live within tents made
from animal hide, but some have fashioned more
sturdy homes from stone or sod with wooden and
whale bone frames. Interesting enough, all three
types of homes are actually igloos, and so is where you live. Igloo never meant anything more
than “home” or “house”, but many people associate the imagery of an ice block hut with the
word igloo, therefore the current connotation it has now. (more on next page)
 Inuit lore is very complex and even if we had months of time and a whole research paper
I’m sure I would only scratch the surface. Inuit people have an animistic belief system, which is
more focused on spirits rather than a single god or gods. They have many myths and stories short
and long, but many focus on instilling moral codes that aim to direct behavior as well as respect
the bonds of their people to nature and the animals they live on to survive. They put much faith
in the natural ability of animals, and like I mentioned before, when hunting they use all parts of
the animal, which gave proper respect to the animal. Lastly, I just wanted to touch on one
supernatural creature in Inuit lore, the Qallupilluk.
These water dwellers are scaly and bumpy, but
humanoid in shape, usually with a basket or pouch on
their back. They reek of sulfur and aim to kidnap
children who have strayed too far from the tribe. The
origin of this creature most likely came from bedtime
stories meant to scare kids away from playing by the
water alone. This piqued my interest as there are
many of these child snatchers in different cultures,
just to name a few, Krampus, the dark evil mirror of
Santa, and the Kappa is more playful, but the same
general idea, a creature that will drag children off into
the unknown if they ever disobey their parents’
warnings.
 Works Cited
- https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/blog/10-interesting-facts-about-eskimos (This gave
me some directions to start with but I didn’t directly use anything from here, although the
background behind the word Eskimo was here, I found matching information in other
sources as well)
- https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-
residential-schools/historical-background/inuit
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Inuit-people
- https://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic42-1-80.pdf
- https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/inuit-myth-and-legend
- https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Rituals-The-Inuit-People-FJZ8MWLL6V#:~:text=Lots
%20of%20the%20Inuit%20culture,%2C%20fish%2C%20and%20arctic%20bears.
- http://indians.org/articles/inuit-harpoon.html (picture only)
- https://visitgreenland.com/about-greenland/dwellings-inuit-culture/ (picture only)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igloo (picture only