THE INUIT

THE PEOPLE WHO CAME ACROSS THE BERING STRAIT FROM NORTHEAST ASIA ARE CALLED NATIVE AMERICANS. ABOUT 3000 B.C. THIS LAND BRIDGE HAD VANISHED AND PEOPLE HAD TO USE HARDY BOATS TO CROSS THE BERING STRAIT. AND THESE PEOPLE WERE THE ANCESTORS OF THE INUIT AND THEY STAYED IN ALASKA.

THEY WERE NOMADIC AND MOVED FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER AND ADAPTED TO THE EXTREMELY COLD TEMPERATURES. FOR THE NEXT 4000 YEARS THEY MOVED THROUGHOUT THE ARCTIC - A DISTANCE OF 3000 MILES. THESE PREHISTORIC PEOPLE MIRACULOUSLY SURVIVED THESE COLD CLIMATES. AND ENJOYED THEIR LIVES. THE FIRST INUIT SOCIETY WAS THE ARCTIC SMALL TOOL CUTTER. THIS GROUP CAUGHT SEA MAMMALS, WHALES, WALRUSES AND SEALS. THEY MADE TOOLS AND LEFT CARVINGS OF ANIMALS. THEY MOVED FROM ALASKA TO CANADA. THE NEXT CULTURE BUILT SNOW HOUSES AND INVENTED THE KAYAK. AFTER THE 1000 A.D. THEY USED DOGSLED AS THEY CONTINUED TO REACH GREENLAND. POSSIBLY 50 TO 100 THOUSAND INUITS LIVED THERE UNTIL THE ANGLOS CAME IN. THEY EVOLVED INTO ONE OF THE MOST DISTINCT CULTURES. THE INDIANS TO THE SOUTH CALLED THEM ESKIMOS MEANING PEOPLE WHO EAT RAW FLESH. THEY THOUGHT IT WAS INSULTING. EACH COMMUNITY DEVELOPED IT'S OWN LIFESTYLE AND HUNTING ADAPTATIONS. THE YUPIK LIVED IN RUSSIA, JUST NORTH OF THE BERING STRAIT. INUITS DID NOT GO TO WAR WITH THE ANGLOS. BY THE 16TH CENTURY MISSIONARIES AND OTHER ANGLOS CAME INTO THEIR REGION. THEY LIKED THE GOODS THEY BROUGHT AND THEY BECAME MORE LIKE THE ANGLOS. BY THE 20TH CENTURY INUITS WERE FORCED TO MOVE. THEY WERE TAKEN FROM HOMELANDS AND RELOCATED TO PERMANENT VILLAGES. AND TOWNS. THIS CAUSED MAJOR CHARGES TO THEIR CULTURE, AND THEY LOST MANY OF THEIR OLD WAYS. TODAY THEY ARE OPTIMISTIC. THE INUIT CONTINUE TO BE LEADERS AS THEY GAIN NEW RECOGNITION AS THEY BECOME MORE EDUCATED. THEY ARE SPREAD FROM FOUR COUNTRIES - GREENLAND , ALASKA, CANADA, SIBERIA. OUR HISTORY THEY SAY IS ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE ENVIRONMENT. THESE PEOPLE WERE AMONG THE TOUGHEST AND MOST RESOURCEFUL PEOPLE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD!

INUIT CLOTHING

THEY MADE THEIR CLOTHING FROM THE SKINS OF THE CARIBOU - LEGGINGS, HOODED COATS, SOCKS, BOOTS, AND MITTENS - ALL HAND SEWN, THE SKIN IS LIGHTWEIGHT AND HAS HOLLOW HAIR TO TRAP WARM AIR. THEY WORE TWO LAYERS DURING WINTER. CLOTHING FOR A FOUR PERSON FAMILY REQUIRED ABOUT 20 DIFFERENT SKINS.

THE ORIGIN OF THE WIND

THEY USE STORIES AND MYTHS TO EXPLAIN THE MYSTERY OF THE WORLD. THE STORIES ARE PASSED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. LONG AGO THEIR WAS AN ICE BEAR WHO HAD A SACK IN WHICH HE KEPT ALL THE WIND IN THE WORLD. HE WOULD NOT PERMIT ANYONE TO OPEN HIS SACK. A HUNTER WAS CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT WAS IN THE BEAR'S SACK. THE BEAR SAID "IT'S JUST A BIG LOAD OF POOP!". THEY ASKED "WHY CARRY IT?" THE BEAR SAID HE MIGHT GET HUNGRY. WHEN THE BEAR FELL ASLEEP THE HUNTER OPENED THE SACK. AND OUT CAME THE WIND. IT KNOCKED THE HUNTER DOWN. HE SAID TO THE BEAR, YOU CAN HAVE MY WIFE FOR A MONTH IF YOU'LL GET RID OF THE WIND! BEAR JUST SHOOK HIS HEAD. WING ENTERED THE WORLD.

FOOD PREPARATION

WHEN ANIMALS WERE BROUGHT TO THE VILLAGE THE WOMEN HAD THE CHORE OF CUTTING UP THE MEAT; THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR PRESERVING THE MEAT YEAR ROUND EATING. THEY DRIED SOME MEATS ON OUTDOOR POLES OR KEPT THEM UNDERGROUND IN A HOLE ONE FOOT DEEP . THEN IT WAS COVERED WITH MOSS, SOD OR SKINS TO PROVIDE INSULATION. DURING THE WINTER THEY ALWAYS HAD FOOD THAT WAY. THE INUIT KILLED ONLY THOSE ANIMALS THAT THEY NEEDED TO FEED AND CLOTH THEMSELVES. IN 1909 THE U.S. BANNED THE KILLING OF WALRUS. TODAY THE INUIT MAY HUNT THEM IN LIMITED NUMBERS.

VISITING AND FEASTING WERE IMPORTANT TO THESE FOLKS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. SOMETIMES BOTH SEXES ATE TOGETHER WHILE AT OTHER TIMES THEY ATE SEPARATELY. THE GUESTS WERE SERVED THE BEST PIECES OF THE MEAT.

CRAFTS

BY THE 1950's MOST VILLAGES HAD DEVELOPED CO-OPS OR MULTI PURPOSE OPERATIONS THAT SOLD THEIR CRAFTS TO DISTANT PLACES. THE CO-OP ALSO MANAGED HOTELS AND FISHING LODGES, THEIR TAXIS AND CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES. ALL OF THE MONEY GOES BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY. THEY CARVED WOODEN SCULPTURES, MADE DECORATIVE IVORY TUSKS OF WALRUS, BASKETS, DOLLS, AND MOCCASINS, AS WELL AS FINGER MASKS.

FUR TRADING

DURING THE 17TH CENTURY THEIR WAS A GREAT DEMAND FOR FUR BEARING ANIMALS EUROPEANS AND RUSSIANS SOON BEGAN A BRISK HUNTING AND TRAPPING EXPEDITIONS FOR MINK, SEALS, FOX, WOLF, BEAR, SEALS AND CARIBOU. THESE TRADING POSTS BEGAN THE CLOSE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INUIT AND EUROPEANS AND THE INUITS BECAME EXPOSED TO DISEASES TO WHICH THEY HAD NO IMMUNITY. TUBERCULOSIS, SMALL POX, WHOOPING COUGH, MEASLES, AND COLDS SPREAD TO VARIOUS VILLAGES. AS A RESULT NEARLY HALF OF THE INUITS DIED!

IN THE 1800'S THE WHALERS CAME NEXT. THEIR OIL WAS NEEDED FOR LAMPS. THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF SHIPS HUUNTING WHALES DURING THE SUMMER. THE INUIT DID NOT GET ALONG WITH THE WHALERS, AND THEY DID NOT LIKE THE INUIT EITHER. THEY SLAUGHTERED WHALES BY THE THOUSANDS FOR MONEY NOT FOOD. THE WHALERS HAD KILLED ALMOST ALL THE ANIMALS THE INUIT RELIED UPON BY THE 1900'S. AND MANY WERE STARVING! MISSIONARIES DID MORE HARM TO THEIR CULTURE THAN ANYONE ELSE. THEY SET UP SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES AND DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE NOR PRACTICE THEIR TRADITIONS. THEY THOUGHT THE NATIVES WERE BACKWARDS. IN THE 50'S THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO MOVE THEM AGAIN FOR LACK OF FOOD AND MEDICAL REASONS. ONE INUIT DESCRIBED THE MOVE LIKE LANDING ON THE MOON - THE TOWNS THEY WERE MOVED TO WERE VERY FOREIGN TO THEM THIS CAUSED GREAT SOCIAL UPHEAVAL AND MADE THE INUIT LOSE THEIR SELF ESTEEM. AND FAITH IN THEIR CULTURE. THEY WERE FORCED TO ADOPT THE WHITE MAN'S WAYS.

IN 1971 THE NATIVES WERE GIVEN 1 BILLION DOLLARS FOR SELLING THEIR TITLE TO THE ARCTIC LANDS THAT WERE NEEDED FOR THE TRANS-ALASKAN PIPELINE. IN THE 70'S AN INUIT ORGANIZATION WAS ESTABLISHED TO PROTECT INUIT CULTURAL AND INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS. IN 1998 THE MINISTER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS MADE A SPEECH WITH AN APOLOGY FOR EXPRESSING DECADES OF GOVERNMENT ABUSE RACIST POLICY MAKING.

ANNE SHARP