Contents:
(Click on the appropriate link)
Origins of the Amerindians
Variations in Indian languages
Games and entertainment
Social and political organization
American Indian Culture areas
Spirituality
Conclusion
Bibliography
6. The Artic
The Arctic culture area rings Alaska and northern Canada, along the coasts. It is the land of the Caribou Hunters and the Inuit. Populations were small because resources were limited. Because winters are long and dark, agriculture is impossible, so people live by fishing and by hunting. For subsistence during the summer months, they relied on fishing and caribou hunting in the interior, and on whaling, and seal and walrus hunting along the coast. Seal hunting and ice fishing provided the major food sources in the winter in most regions, with some caribou hunting in the interior.
The Caribou Hunters depended upon the caribou and other northern game like the Plains Indians depended upon the buffalo. They made their tents and clothing of caribou or other deer hides. In winter they tracked their game on snowshoes. Their dogs carried the baggage or pulled it on sledges.
There were (and still are) Inuit across the whole Arctic region, ranging from Alaska to Labrador, as well as in Greenland and Siberia. They had developed ingenious technology to deal with the difficult climate and meager economic resources. Many depended upon fishing and hunting seal, whale, walrus, caribou, polar bear, Arctic birds, and other Arctic animals. They made warm clothing of the animal skins, turning the fur inside to hold the body’s warmth. They built skin boats called kayaks which were practically unsinkable. Their traditional summer houses were fur tents. In the winter, they lived in the igloo, a round house made of blocks of ice.
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