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1Nomenclature

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1.1Etymology

1.2Usage

1.3Inuit Circumpolar Council

1.3.1Academic response

2History

3Languages

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3.1Language family

3.2Words for snow

4Diet

5Inuit

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5.1Greenland's Inuit

5.2Canadian Inuit

5.3Alaska's Iñupiat

6Yupik

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6.1Alutiiq

6.2Central Alaskan Yup'ik

6.3Siberian Yupik

6.4Naukan

7Sirenik Eskimos

8See also

9Citations

10General and cited sources

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10.1Cyrillic

11Further reading

12External links

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Eskimo

84 languages

العربيةAvañe'ẽАварAzərbaycancaবাংলাБеларускаяБеларуская (тарашкевіца)БългарскиBoarischБуряадCatalàČeštinaDeutschEestiEspañolEsperantoEuskaraفارسیFøroysktFrançaisFryskGaeilgeGalego한국어Հայերենहिन्दीHrvatskiBahasa IndonesiaInterlinguaIñupiatunÍslenskaItalianoעבריתJawaಕನ್ನಡქართულიҚазақшаКыргызчаКырык марыЛаккуLatinaLatviešuLëtzebuergeschLietuviųMagyarМакедонскиMalagasyമലയാളംमराठीმარგალურიBahasa MelayuМонголမြန်မာဘာသာNederlands日本語NordfriiskNorsk bokmålNorsk nynorskOʻzbekcha / ўзбекчаPolskiPortuguêsRomânăРусскийСаха тылаShqipSlovenčinaСрпски / srpskiSrpskohrvatski / српскохрватскиSuomiSvenskaTagalogதமிழ்Татарча / tatarçaతెలుగుไทยTürkçeУкраїнськаئۇيغۇرچە / UyghurcheVepsän kel’Tiếng ViệtWinaray吴语粵語中文

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Exonym used to describe Indigenous people from the circumpolar region

For other uses, see Eskimo (disambiguation).

EskimoMap of the Inuit Circumpolar Council of Eskimo peoples, showing the Yupik (Yup'ik, Siberian Yupik) and Inuit (Iñupiat, Inuvialuit, Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, Greenlandic Inuit)Total population183,500Regions with significant populationsRussia- Chukotka Autonomous Okrug- Sakha (Yakutia) United States- AlaskaCanada- Newfoundland and Labrador- Northwest Territories - Nunavut- Quebec- Yukon (formerly) GreenlandLanguagesEskaleut (Aleut, Greenlandic, Inuktut, Yupik), Russian, English, French, DanishReligionAlaska Native religion, Inuit religion, Shamanism, AnimismChristianity (Russian Orthodox Church, Orthodox Church in America, Roman Catholicism, Anglican Church of Canada, Church of Denmark)Related ethnic groupsAleut

Eskimo (/ˈɛskɪmoʊ/) is an exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik (or Yuit) of eastern Siberia and Alaska. A related third group, the Aleut, who inhabit the Aleutian Islands, are generally excluded from the definition of Eskimo. The three groups share a relatively recent common ancestor, and speak related languages belonging to the Eskaleut language family.

These circumpolar peoples have traditionally inhabited the Arctic and subarctic regions from eastern Siberia (Russia) to Alaska (United States), Northern Canada, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and Greenland.

Many Inuit, Yupik, Aleut, and other individuals consider the term Eskimo, which is of a disputed etymology,[1] to be offensive and even pejorative.[2][3] Eskimo continues to be used within a historical, linguistic, archaeological, and cultural context. The governments in Canada[4][5][6] and the United States[7][8] have made moves to cease using the term Eskimo in official documents, but it has not been eliminated, as the word is in some places written into tribal, and therefore national, legal terminology.[9] Canada officially uses the term Inuit to describe the indigenous Canadian people who are living in the country's northern sectors and are not First Nations or Métis.[4][5][10][11] The United States government legally uses Alaska Native[8] for enrolled tribal members of the Yupik, Inuit, and Aleut, and also for non-Eskimos including the Tlingit, the Haida, the Eyak, and the Tsimshian, in addition to at least nine northern Athabaskan/Dene peoples.[12] Other non-enrolled individuals also claim Eskimo/Aleut descent, making it the world's "most widespread aboriginal group".[13][14][15]

There are between 171,000 and 187,000 Inuit and Yupik, the majority of whom live in or near their traditional circumpolar homeland. Of these, 53,785 (2010) live in the United States, 65,025 (2016) in Canada, 51,730 (2021) in Greenland and 1,657 (2021) in Russia. In addition, 16,730 people living in Denmark were born in Greenland.[16][17][18][19][20] The Inuit Circumpolar Council, a non-governmental organization (NGO), claims to represent 180,000 people.[21]

In the Eskaleut language family, the Eskimo branch has an Inuit language sub-branch, and a sub-branch of four Yupik languages. Two Yupik languages are used in the Russian Far East as well as on St. Lawrence Island, and two in western Alaska, southwestern Alaska, and western Southcentral Alaska. The extinct Sirenik language is sometimes claimed to be related.

Nomenclature[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Further information: Native American name controversy

Illustration of a Greenlandic Inuit man

A variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origin of the word Eskimo.[22][23][24][25][26][3] According to Smithsonian linguist Ives Goddard, etymologically the word derives from the Innu-aimun (Montagnais) word ayas̆kimew, meaning "a person who laces a snowshoe",[27][28][29] and is related to husky (a breed of dog).[citation needed] The word assime·w means "she laces a snowshoe" in Innu, and Innu language speakers refer to the neighbouring Mi'kmaq people using words that sound like eskimo.[30][31] This interpretation is generally confirmed by more recent academic sources.[32]

In 1978, José Mailhot, a Quebec anthropologist who speaks Innu-aimun (Montagnais), published a paper suggesting that Eskimo meant "people who speak a different language".[33][34] French traders who encountered the Innu (Montagnais) in the eastern areas adopted their word for the more western peoples and spelled it as Esquimau or Esquimaux in a transliteration.[35]

Some people consider Eskimo offensive, because it is popularly perceived to mean[34][36][37] "eaters of raw meat" in Algonquian languages common to people along the Atlantic coast.[28][38][39] An unnamed Cree speaker suggested the original word that became corrupted to Eskimo might have been askamiciw (meaning "he eats it raw"); Inuit are referred to in some Cree texts as askipiw (meaning "eats something raw").[38][39][40][41][4][42] Regardless, the term still carries a derogatory connotation for many Inuit and Yupik.[28][38][43][44]

One of the first printed uses of the French word Esquimaux comes from Samuel Hearne's A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 first published in 1795.[45]

Usage[edit]

Laminar armour from hardened leather reinforced by wood and bones worn by native Siberians and Eskimos

Lamellar armour worn by native Siberians

The term Eskimo is still used by people to encompass Inuit and Yupik, as well as other Indigenous or Alaska Native and Siberian peoples.[27][43][46] In the 21st century, usage in North America has declined.[28][44] Linguistic, ethnic, and cultural differences exist between Yupik and Inuit.

In Canada and Greenland, and to a certain extent in Alaska, the term Eskimo is predominantly seen as offensive and has been widely replaced by the term Inuit [28][40][41][47] or terms specific to a particular group or community.[28][48][49][50] This has resulted in a trend whereby some non-Indigenous people believe that they should use Inuit even for Yupik who are non-Inuit.[28]

Greenlandic Inuit generally refer to themselves as Greenlanders ("Kalaallit" or "Grønlændere") and speak the Greenlandic language and Danish.[28][51] Greenlandic Inuit belong to three groups: the Kalaallit of west Greenland, who speak Kalaallisut;[51] the Tunumiit of Tunu (east Greenland), who speak Tunumiit oraasiat ("East Greenlandic"); and the Inughuit of north Greenland, who speak Inuktun.

The word "Eskimo" is a racially charged term in Canada.[52][53] In Canada's Central Arctic, Inuinnaq is the preferred term,[54] and in the eastern Canadian Arctic Inuit. The language is often called Inuktitut, though other local designations are also used.

Section 25[55] of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and section 35[56] of the Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 recognized Inuit as a distinctive group of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Although Inuit can be applied to all of the Eskimo peoples in Canada and Greenland, that is not true in Alaska and Siberia. In Alaska, the term Eskimo is still used because it includes both Iñupiat (singular: Iñupiaq), who are Inuit, and Yupik, who are not.[28]

The term Alaska Native is inclusive of (and under U.S. and Alaskan law, as well as the linguistic and cultural legacy of Alaska, refers to) all Indigenous peoples of Alaska,[1] including not only the Iñupiat (Alaskan Inuit) and the Yupik, but also groups such as the Aleut, who share a recent ancestor, as well as the largely unrelated[57] indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and the Alaskan Athabaskans, such as the Eyak people. The term Alaska Native has important legal usage in Alaska and the rest of the United States as a result of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. It does not apply to Inuit or Yupik originating outside the state. As a result, the term Eskimo is still in use in Alaska.[58][27] Alternative terms, such as Inuit-Yupik, have been proposed,[59] but none has gained widespread acceptance. Early 21st century population estimates registered more than 135,000 individuals of Eskimo descent, with approximately 85,000 living in North America, 50,000 in Greenland, and the rest residing in Siberia.[27]

Inuit Circumpolar Council[edit]

In 1977, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) meeting in Barrow, Alaska, officially adopted Inuit as a designation for all circumpolar Native peoples, regardless of their local view on an appropriate term. They voted to replace the word Eskimo with Inuit.[60] Even at that time, such a designation was not accepted by all.[28][35] As a result, the Canadian government usage has replaced the term Eskimo with Inuit (Inuk in singular).

The ICC charter defines Inuit as including "the Inupiat, Yupik (Alaska), Inuit, Inuvialuit (Canada), Kalaallit (Greenland) and Yupik (Russia)".[61] Despite the ICC's 1977 decision to adopt the term Inuit, this has not been accepted by all or even most Yupik people.[60]

In 2010, the ICC passed a resolution in which they implored scientists to use Inuit and Paleo-Inuit instead of Eskimo or Paleo-Eskimo.[62]

Academic response[edit]

In a 2015 commentary in the journal Arctic, Canadian archaeologist Max Friesen argued fellow Arctic archaeologists should follow the ICC and use Paleo-Inuit instead of Paleo-Eskimo.[63] In 2016, Lisa Hodgetts and Arctic editor Patricia Wells wrote: "In the Canadian context, continued use of any term that incorporates Eskimo is potentially harmful to the relationships between archaeologists and the Inuit and Inuvialuit communities who are our hosts and increasingly our research partners."

Hodgetts and Wells suggested using more specific terms when possible (e.g., Dorset and Groswater) and agreed with Frieson in using the Inuit tradition to replace Neo-Eskimo, although they noted replacement for Palaeoeskimo was still an open question and discussed Paleo-Inuit, Arctic Small Tool Tradition, and pre-Inuit, as well as Inuktitut loanwords like Tuniit and Sivullirmiut, as possibilities.[64]

In 2020, Katelyn Braymer-Hayes and colleagues argued in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology that there is a "clear need" to replace the terms Neo-Eskimo and Paleo-Eskimo, citing the ICC resolution, but finding a consensus within the Alaskan context particularly is difficult, since Alaska Natives do not use the word Inuit to describe themselves nor is the term legally applicable only to Iñupiat and Yupik in Alaska, and as such, terms used in Canada like Paleo Inuit and Ancestral Inuit would not be acceptable.[65]

American linguist Lenore Grenoble has also explicitly deferred to the ICC resolution and used Inuit–Yupik instead of Eskimo with regards to the language branch.[66][67]

History[edit]

Genetic evidence suggests that the Americas were populated from northeastern Asia in multiple waves. While the great majority of indigenous American peoples can be traced to a single early migration of Paleo-Indians, the Na-Dené, Inuit and Indigenous Alaskan populations exhibit admixture from distinct populations that migrated into America at a later date and are closely linked to the peoples of far northeastern Asia (e.g. Chukchi), and only more remotely to the majority indigenous American type. For modern Eskimo–Aleut speakers, this later ancestral component makes up almost half of their genomes.[68] The ancient Paleo-Eskimo population was genetically distinct from the modern circumpolar populations, but eventually derives from the same far northeastern Asian cluster.[69] It is understood that some or all of these ancient people migrated across the Chukchi Sea to North America during the pre-neolithic era, somewhere around 5,000 to 10,000 years ago.[70] It is believed that ancestors of the Aleut people inhabited the Aleutian Chain 10,000 years ago.[71]

Stone remains of a Dorset culture longhouse near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

The earliest positively identified Paleo-Eskimo cultures (Early Paleo-Eskimo) date to 5,000 years ago.[69] Several earlier indigenous peoples existed in the northern circumpolar regions of eastern Siberia, Alaska, and Canada (although probably not in Greenland).[72] The Paleo-Eskimo peoples appear to have developed in Alaska from people related to the Arctic small tool tradition in eastern Asia, whose ancestors had probably migrated to Alaska at least 3,000 to 5,000 years earlier.[73]

The Yupik languages and cultures in Alaska evolved in place, beginning with the original pre-Dorset Indigenous culture developed in Alaska. At least 4,000 years ago, the Unangan culture of the Aleut became distinct. It is not generally considered an Eskimo culture. However, there is some possibility of an Aleutian origin of the Dorset people,[69] who in turn are a likely ancestor of today's Inuit and Yupik.[70]

Approximately 1,500 to 2,000 years ago, apparently in northwestern Alaska, two other distinct variations appeared. Inuit language became distinct and, over a period of several centuries, its speakers migrated across northern Alaska, through Canada, and into Greenland. The distinct culture of the Thule people (drawing strongly from the Birnirk culture) developed in northwestern Alaska. It very quickly spread over the entire area occupied by Eskimo peoples, though it was not necessarily adopted by all of them.[74]

Languages[edit]

Main article: Eskaleut languages

Language family[edit]

English ("Welcome to Barrow") and Iñupiaq (Paġlagivsigiñ Utqiaġvigmun), Utqiaġvik, Alaska, framed by whale jawbones

The Eskimo–Aleut family of languages includes two cognate branches: the Aleut (Unangan) branch and the Eskimo branch.[75]

The number of cases varies, with Aleut languages having a greatly reduced case system compared to those of the Eskimo subfamily. Eskimo–Aleut languages possess voiceless plosives at the bilabial, coronal, velar and uvular positions in all languages except Aleut, which has lost the bilabial stops but retained the nasal. In the Eskimo subfamily a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative is also present.

The Eskimo sub-family consists of the Inuit language and Yupik language sub-groups.[76] The Sirenikski language, which is virtually extinct, is sometimes regarded as a third branch of the Eskimo language family. Other sources regard it as a group belonging to the Yupik branch.[76][77]

Inuit languages comprise a dialect continuum, or dialect chain, that stretches from Unalakleet and Norton Sound in Alaska, across northern Alaska and Canada, and east to Greenland. Changes from western (Iñupiaq) to eastern dialects are marked by the dropping of vestigial Yupik-related features, increasing consonant assimilation (e.g., kumlu, meaning "thumb", changes to kuvlu, changes to kublu, changes to kulluk, changes to kulluq,[78]) and increased consonant lengthening, and lexical change. Thus, speakers of two adjacent Inuit dialects would usually be able to understand one another, but speakers from dialects distant from each other on the dialect continuum would have difficulty understanding one another.[77] Seward Peninsula dialects in western Alaska, where much of the Iñupiat culture has been in place for perhaps less than 500 years, are greatly affected by phonological influence from the Yupik languages. Eastern Greenlandic, at the opposite end of Inuit range, has had significant word replacement due to a unique form of ritual name avoidance.[76][77]

Ethnographically, Greenlandic Inuit belong to three groups: the Kalaallit of west Greenland, who speak Kalaallisut;[51] the Tunumiit of Tunu (east Greenland), who speak Tunumiit oraasiat ("East Greenlandic"), and the Inughuit of north Greenland, who speak Inuktun.

The four Yupik languages, by contrast, including Alutiiq (Sugpiaq), Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Naukan (Naukanski), and Siberian Yupik, are distinct languages with phonological, morphological, and lexical differences. They demonstrate limited mutual intelligibility.[76] Additionally, both Alutiiq and Central Yup'ik have considerable dialect diversity. The northernmost Yupik languages – Siberian Yupik and Naukan Yupik – are linguistically only slightly closer to Inuit than is Alutiiq, which is the southernmost of the Yupik languages. Although the grammatical structures of Yupik and Inuit languages are similar, they have pronounced differences phonologically. Differences of vocabulary between Inuit and any one of the Yupik languages are greater than between any two Yupik languages.[77] Even the dialectal differences within Alutiiq and Central Alaskan Yup'ik sometimes are relatively great for locations that are relatively close geographically.[77]

Despite the relatively small population of Naukan speakers, documentation of the language dates back to 1732. While Naukan is only spoken in Siberia, the language acts as an intermediate between two Alaskan languages: Siberian Yupik Eskimo and Central Yup'ik Eskimo.[79]

The Sirenikski language is sometimes regarded as a third branch of the Eskimo language family, but other sources regard it as a group belonging to the Yupik branch.[77]

Distribution of language variants across the Arctic.

An overview of the Eskimo–Aleut languages family is given below:

Eskimo–Aleut

Aleut

Aleut language

Western-Central dialects: Atkan, Attuan, Unangan, Bering (60–80 speakers)

Eastern dialect: Unalaskan, Pribilof (400 speakers)

Eskimo (Yup'ik, Yuit, and Inuit)

Yupik

Central Alaskan Yup'ik (10,000 speakers)

Alutiiq or Pacific Gulf Yup'ik (400 speakers)

Central Siberian Yupik or Yuit (Chaplinon and St Lawrence Island, 1,400 speakers)

Naukan (700 speakers)

Inuit or Inupik (75,000 speakers)

Iñupiaq (northern Alaska, 3,500 speakers)

Inuvialuktun (western Canada; together with Siglitun, Natsilingmiutut, Inuinnaqtun and Uummarmiutun 765 speakers)

Inuktitut (eastern Canada; together with Inuktun and Inuinnaqtun, 30,000 speakers)

Kalaallisut (Greenlandic (Greenland, 47,000 speakers)

Inuktun (Avanersuarmiutut, Thule dialect or Polar Eskimo, approximately 1,000 speakers)

Tunumiit oraasiat (East Greenlandic known as Tunumiisut, 3,500 speakers)

Sirenik Eskimo language (Sirenikskiy) †

American linguist Lenore Grenoble has explicitly deferred to this resolution and used Inuit–Yupik instead of Eskimo with regards to the language branch.[66]

Words for snow[edit]

Main article: Eskimo words for snow

There has been a long-running linguistic debate about whether or not the speakers of the Eskimo-Aleut language group have an unusually large number of words for snow. The general modern consensus is that, in multiple Eskimo languages, there are, or have been in simultaneous usage, indeed fifty plus words for snow.[80]

Diet[edit]

Sharing of frozen, aged walrus meat. Inuit are known for their practice of food sharing, where large catches of food are shared with the broader community.[81]

Historically Inuit cuisine, which is taken here to include Greenlandic cuisine, Yup'ik cuisine and Aleut cuisine, consisted of a diet of animal source foods that were fished, hunted, and gathered locally.

In the 20th century the Inuit diet began to change and by the 21st century the diet was closer to a Western diet. After hunting, they often honour the animals' spirit by singing songs and performing rituals. Although traditional or country foods still play an important role in the identity of Inuit, much food is purchased from the store, which has led to health problems and food insecurity.[82][83] According to Edmund Searles in his article Food and the Making of Modern Inuit Identities, they consume this type of diet because a mostly meat diet is "effective in keeping the body warm, making the body strong, keeping the body fit, and even making that body healthy".[84]

Inuit[edit]

Further information: Inuit and Lists of Inuit

Not to be confused with the Innu, a First Nations people in eastern Quebec and Labrador.

Eskimo (Yup'ik of Nelson Island) fisherman's summer house

Inuit inhabit the Arctic and northern Bering Sea coasts of Alaska in the United States, and Arctic coasts of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, and Labrador in Canada, and Greenland (associated with Denmark). Until fairly recent times, there has been a remarkable homogeneity in the culture throughout this area, which traditionally relied on fish, marine mammals, and land animals for food, heat, light, clothing, and tools. Their food sources primarily relied on seals, whales, whale blubber, walrus, and fish, all of which they hunted using harpoons on the ice.[27] Clothing consisted of robes made of wolfskin and reindeer skin to acclimate to the low temperatures.[85] They maintain a unique Inuit culture.

Greenland's Inuit[edit]

Main article: Greenlandic Inuit

Greenlandic Inuit make up 90% of Greenland's population.[17] They belong to three major groups:

Kalaallit of west Greenland, who speak Kalaallisut

Tunumiit of east Greenland, who speak Tunumiisut

Inughuit of north Greenland, who speak Inuktun or Polar Eskimo.[51]

Canadian Inuit[edit]

Main article: Inuit

Canadian Inuit live primarily in Inuit Nunangat (lit. "lands, waters and ices of the [Inuit] people"), their traditional homeland although some people live in southern parts of Canada. Inuit Nunangat ranges from the Yukon–Alaska border in the west across the Arctic to northern Labrador.

The Inuvialuit live in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the northern part of Yukon and the Northwest Territories, which stretches to the Amundsen Gulf and the Nunavut border and includes the western Canadian Arctic Islands. The land was demarked in 1984 by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

The majority of Inuit live in Nunavut (a territory of Canada), Nunavik (the northern part of Quebec) and in Nunatsiavut (Inuit settlement region in Labrador).[16][86][87][88]

Alaska's Iñupiat[edit]

Main article: Iñupiat

An Iñupiat family from Noatak, Alaska, 1929

The Iñupiat are Inuit of Alaska's Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs and the Bering Straits region, including the Seward Peninsula. Utqiaġvik, the northernmost city in the United States, is above the Arctic Circle and in the Iñupiat region. Their language is known as Iñupiaq.[89] Their current communities include 34 villages across Iñupiat Nunaŋat (Iñupiaq lands) including seven Alaskan villages in the North Slope Borough, affiliated with the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation; eleven villages in Northwest Arctic Borough; and sixteen villages affiliated with the Bering Straits Regional Corporation.[90]

Yupik[edit]

Main article: Yupik peoples

Alutiiq dancer during the biennial "Celebration" cultural event

The Yupik are indigenous or aboriginal peoples who live along the coast of western Alaska, especially on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta and along the Kuskokwim River (Central Alaskan Yup'ik); in southern Alaska (the Alutiiq); and along the eastern coast of Chukotka in the Russian Far East and St. Lawrence Island in western Alaska (the Siberian Yupik).[91] The Yupik economy has traditionally been strongly dominated by the harvest of marine mammals, especially seals, walrus, and whales.[92]

Alutiiq[edit]

This section is an excerpt from Alutiiq.[edit]

Salmon drying. Alutiiq village, Old Harbor, Kodiak Island. Photographed by N. B. Miller, 1889

The Alutiiq people (pronounced /əˈluːtɪk/ ə-LOO-tik in English; from Promyshlenniki Russian Алеутъ, "Aleut";[93][94][95] plural often "Alutiit"), also called by their ancestral name Sugpiaq (/ˈsʊɡˌbjɑːk/ SUUG-byahk or /ˈsʊɡpiˌæk/ SUUG-pee-AK; plural often "Sugpiat"), as well as Pacific Eskimo or Pacific Yupik, are one of eight groups of Alaska Natives that inhabit the southern-central coast of the region.[96]

Their traditional homelands date back to over 7,500 years ago, and include areas such as Prince William Sound and outer Kenai Peninsula (Chugach Sugpiaq), the Kodiak Archipelago and the Alaska Peninsula (Koniag Alutiiq). In the early 1800s there were more than 60 Alutiiq villages in the Kodiak archipelago, with an estimated population of 13,000 people. Today more than 4,000 Alutiiq people live in Alaska.[97]

The Alutiiq language is relatively close to that spoken by the Yupik in the Bethel, Alaska area. But, it is considered a distinct language with two major dialects: the Koniag dialect, spoken on the Alaska Peninsula and on Kodiak Island, and the Chugach dialect, spoken on the southern Kenai Peninsula and in Prince William Sound. Residents of Nanwalek, located on southern part of the Kenai Peninsula near Seldovia, speak what they call Sugpiaq. They are able to understand those who speak Yupik in Bethel. With a population of approximately 3,000, and the number of speakers in the hundreds, Alutiiq communities are working to revitalize their language.[98]

Central Alaskan Yup'ik[edit]

Main article: Yup'ik

Yup'ik, with an apostrophe, denotes the speakers of the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, who live in western Alaska and southwestern Alaska from southern Norton Sound to the north side of Bristol Bay, on the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta, and on Nelson Island. The use of the apostrophe in the name Yup'ik is a written convention to denote the long pronunciation of the p sound; but it is spoken the same in other Yupik languages. Of all the Alaska Native languages, Central Alaskan Yup'ik has the most speakers, with about 10,000 of a total Yup'ik population of 21,000 still speaking the language. The five dialects of Central Alaskan Yup'ik include General Central Yup'ik, and the Egegik, Norton Sound, Hooper Bay-Chevak, and Nunivak dialects. In the latter two dialects, both the language and the people are called Cup'ik.[99]

Siberian Yupik[edit]

Main article: Siberian Yupik

Siberian Yupik aboard the steamer Bowhead

Siberian Yupik reside along the Bering Sea coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in Siberia in the Russian Far East[77] and in the villages of Gambell and Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska.[100] The Central Siberian Yupik spoken on the Chukchi Peninsula and on St. Lawrence Island is nearly identical. About 1,050 of a total Alaska population of 1,100 Siberian Yupik people in Alaska speak the language. It is the first language of the home for most St. Lawrence Island children. In Siberia, about 300 of a total of 900 Siberian Yupik people still learn and study the language, though it is no longer learned as a first language by children.[100]

Naukan[edit]

Main articles: Naukan people and Naukan Yupik language

About 70 of 400 Naukan people still speak Naukanski. The Naukan originate on the Chukot Peninsula in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in Siberia.[77] Despite the relatively small population of Naukan speakers, documentation of the language dates back to 1732. While Naukan is only spoken in Siberia, the language acts as an intermediate between two Alaskan languages: Siberian Yupik Eskimo and Central Yup'ik Eskimo.[79]

Sirenik Eskimos[edit]

Main article: Sirenik Eskimos

Model of an ice scoop, Eskimo, 1900–1930, Brooklyn Museum

Some speakers of Siberian Yupik languages used to speak an Eskimo variant in the past, before they underwent a language shift. These former speakers of Sirenik Eskimo language inhabited the settlements of Sireniki, Imtuk, and some small villages stretching to the west from Sireniki along south-eastern coasts of Chukchi Peninsula.[101] They lived in neighborhoods with Siberian Yupik and Chukchi peoples.

As early as in 1895, Imtuk was a settlement with a mixed population of Sirenik Eskimos and Ungazigmit[102] (the latter belonging to Siberian Yupik). Sirenik Eskimo culture has been influenced by that of Chukchi, and the language shows Chukchi language influences.[103] Folktale motifs also show the influence of Chuckchi culture.[104]

The above peculiarities of this (already extinct) Eskimo language amounted to mutual unintelligibility even with its nearest language relatives:[105] in the past, Sirenik Eskimos had to use the unrelated Chukchi language as a lingua franca for communicating with Siberian Yupik.[103]

Many words are formed from entirely different roots from in Siberian Yupik,[106] but even the grammar has several peculiarities distinct not only among Eskimo languages, but even compared to Aleut. For example, dual number is not known in Sirenik Eskimo, while most Eskimo–Aleut languages have dual,[107] including its neighboring Siberian Yupikax relatives.[108]

Little is known about the origin of this diversity. The peculiarities of this language may be the result of a supposed long isolation from other Eskimo groups,[109][110] and being in contact only with speakers of unrelated languages for many centuries. The influence of the Chukchi language is clear.[103]

Because of all these factors, the classification of Sireniki Eskimo language is not settled yet:[111] Sireniki language is sometimes regarded as a third branch of Eskimo (at least, its possibility is mentioned).[111][112][113] Sometimes it is regarded rather as a group belonging to the Yupik branch.[114][115]

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The Inuit People - WorldAtlas

The Inuit People

An Inuit woman in a traditional parka.

There are approximately over 150,000 Inuit globally, with 65,000 in Canada, 35,000 in Alaska, 50,000 Greenland, and smaller populations in Siberia.

Inuit spiritualism is animistic, which is the belief that everything on earth, from objects to animals, is inhabited by a spirit.

Climate change poses serious risks to Inuit people’s livelihoods, and researchers fear the Arctic’s changing environment will negatively affect Inuit people’s health.

The Inuit are Indigenous people who live in the Arctic regions from Alaska to Siberia. DNA evidence suggests that the present-day Inuit descended from the Thule, a group thought to have migrated to the Arctic around the year 1000. Archaeologists found that the Thule culture developed along the Alaskan coast and moved east towards Canada and Greenland.

The word “Eskimo” was once commonly used to refer to the two main Indigenous groups in the Arctic: the Inuit of northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and the Yupik of western Alaska, south-central Alaska, and the Russian Far East. It is now considered a derogatory term, and the Indigenous people of Greenland, Alaska, and Canada prefer the term “Inuit” instead. However, the Yupik people of Alaska and Siberia do not consider themselves Inuit and are ethnically different from Inuit people. They favor the term Yupik, Yupiit, or Eskimo. In Canada, Inuit is the preferred term, while in Greenland, they use Greenlanders or Kalaallit as well.

The continued arrival of explorers and traders caused numerous cultural changes for the Inuit. Colonization caused some of the most drastic alterations to their ways of life and has impacted Inuit culture substantially. In Canada, many Inuit children attended residential schools, which were federally-run and aimed at assimilating Indigenous children into the Eurocentric Canadian culture. Although Inuit life has changed over the past centuries, the Inuit have maintained their cultural identity and traditions.

Where Do The Inuit Live?

Map showing the location of the Inuit.

The Inuit people live in Alaska, Canada, Siberia, and Greenland, with most of them inhabiting northern Canada. There are approximately 150,000 Inuit globally, with approximately 65,000 in Canada, 35,000 in Alaska, 50,000 Greenland, and smaller populations in Siberia. Much of the Inuit population of the world lives in remote areas.

In Canada, most of the Inuit live in Inuit Nunangat, which translates loosely to “Inuit homeland” and encompasses Nunavut, Nunavik in Northern Quebec, Nunatsiavut in Northern Labrador, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories. In 2016, about 73% lived in 53 Arctic communities in Inuit Nunangat, with approximately 64% living in Nunavut. Approximately 27% of the Inuit in Canada live outside of the Inuit Nunangat, with two-fifths residing in large urban centers.

In Greenland, over 50,000 of its 56,000 residents are Inuit, which equates to 89% of its total population. The majority of them live in the southwestern corner of the island.

Inuit Beliefs And Cultural Practices

Inuit in Greenland wearing traditional clothes.

Many Inuit traditions and customs have developed over thousands of years and include extensive oral history and storytelling traditions. The Inuit pass stories from one generation to another as a way to preserve their culture. Many Inuit ceremonies consisted of singing and dancing. Some dances were religious, and others were celebratory.

Inuit spirituality is animistic, which is the belief that everything on earth, from objects to animals, is inhabited by a spirit. The Inuit believe that everything has its own Inua (or spirit), and the Inua of the moon, sea, and air was of particular importance. The Inuit also treated the animals they hunted with respect, as they believed the creatures possessed souls just like those of humans. The Inuit would pay respect to the animal’s spirit when hunting so that it would reappear in another animal’s body. The Inuit believed that if they did not pay respects, the animal’s spirit would reappear as a demon. One way they show respect for the animal they hunted is to use every part of it so nothing went to waste.

Shamans, known as Angakok, can control the spirits and communicate with the spirit world. Shamans often wore masks, usually representing an animal, during rituals as the Inuit believed it helped the shaman speak with the spirits. One of the important spirits in Inuit cultures is Sedna (or Nuliayuk, Taluliyuk), a half-woman and half-fish goddess of the sea who controls marine animals. The Inuit believed Sedna lived at the bottom of the ocean and had sea animals entangled in her hair. She would only release the creatures when the Inuit appeased her with songs, offerings, or shaman visits.

Inuit Languages

A stop sign in Inuktitut.

The Inuit in Canada speak the Inuktitut language. It has five main dialects: Inuvialuktun in the Inuvialuit regions of the Northwest Territories, Inuinnaqtun in western Nunavut, Nunatsiavumiuttut in Nunatsiavut, Inuktitut in eastern Nunavut, and Inuktitut in Nunavik. In 2016, over 41,000 Inuit had a conversational knowledge of an Inuit language or dialect. In Inuit Nunangat, almost 84% of Inuit had a conversational ability in an Inuit language. However, Nunavut had the highest percentage of Inuit who can converse in Inuktitut, at 99.2%.

In northern Alaska, the Inuit speak Inupiaq, closely related to the Canadian and Greenlandic dialects. Inupiaq has two major dialects: the North Alaskan Inupiaq and Seward Peninsula Inupiaq. The North Alaskan Inupiaq is further broken down into the North Slope dialect in the coastal region of Barter Island to Kivalina and the Malimiut dialect found in Kotzebue Sound and the Kobuk River. Seward Peninsula Inupiaq is made up of the Qawiaraq dialect in Teller, the southern Seward Peninsula, and Norton Sound. It also includes the Bering Strait dialect in the Bering Strait region and Diomede Islands.

Greenland’s Inuit language has three linguistic groups: Kalaallit on the west coast, Inughuit in the north, and Iit on the east coast. Greenland Inuit people refer to themselves as Kalaallit and call their land Kalaallit Nunaat, which translates to "Greenlanders’ Land."

Inuit Diet

Salmon being dried in Sisimiut village, Greenland.

Experts have found that the Inuit diet has not undergone drastic changes over the centuries. Inuit people were hunters that adapted to their environment, available resources, and climate. They hunted based on the seasonal availability of various plants and animals.

The Inuit diet mainly consists of “country food,” including game meats, birds, fish, and foraged foods. They consumed meat and fish due to the lack of access to fruits and vegetables during cold climates. However, during the summer months, they were able to forage for fruits and plants such as grasses, roots, and stems. The Inuit either boiled, dried, froze or fried the meat or ate them raw. A high percentage of their food was fatty, which helped provide them with energy to survive in cold weather. The Inuit used all parts of the animals for food and the creation of tools and clothes. For example, they crafted spears, harpoons, parkas, and blankets from the animal's remains.

Today, country food remains an integral part of the Inuit diet, with over 60% of households consuming it, though food insecurity is a problem in Inuit communities, with 70% of Inuit adults living with food insecurity in Canada. Country food is also culturally significant to the Inuit. Elders would teach young hunters how to live off of the land and the importance of the land, water, and animals in their lives. Hunting for country food was also a way to share traditional knowledge. The Inuit also shared food with their communities to show respect.

Current Reality Of The Inuit

One major problem the Inuit face is overcrowding and inadequate housing.

The Inuit in Canada have lacked adequate housing and access to healthcare since they were moved into permanent settlements in the 1950s and '60s. A study in 2018 found that the Inuit who lived in and around Ottawa have much higher cancer and hypertension cases compared to the general population. In 2016, over half of those residing in Inuit Nunangat reported overcrowded housing conditions. The Inuit’s living conditions and lack of healthcare access play a partial role in their increased risk for chronic health conditions such as obesity and diabetes. Inuit in Greenland also face similar economic, social, and health problems. Their traditional way of life is under threat due to urbanization and animal rights campaigns against hunting.

Inuit people, particularly youth, have a much higher suicide rate than the rest of Canada and Greenland. For example, the suicide rate in Nunavut is almost six times higher than the national average. Among Canadian Inuit youth aged 15 to 19, the suicide rate is 480 per 100,000 people which is 25 times the Quebec average for the same age group.

Climate Change And The Inuit

Warming temperatures are melting ice caps and posing issues for Inuit communities.

Climate change also poses risks to Inuit people’s livelihoods, and researchers fear the Arctic’s changing environment will negatively affect Inuit people’s health by decreasing access to traditional country foods. The warmer temperatures are causing ice caps to melt and reducing snow cover and permafrost, thereby affecting the ecosystems in the Arctic. Unpredictable weather has also shortened the hunting seasons, made sea ice hunting more dangerous and threatened the Inuit’s ability to harvest country food. Pollution has also caused health and safety hazards to the country food the Inuit consume, as some Arctic animals have been found to contain heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants. In Greenland, Inuit hunters report increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.

Fortunately, there is a growing awareness of Indigenous rights and advocates speaking on the inequalities and hardships the Inuit face and the importance of preserving their traditions and languages. In Canada, the Inuit formed the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), an organization that advocates for the Inuit’s rights and raises awareness of the various issues impacting their communities. ITK represents the Northwest Territories, Nunavik in Northern Quebec, Nunatsiavut in Northern Labrador, and Nunavut. Similarly, the United Nations Environment Programme has championed increased environmental monitoring of the Arctic.

The Inuit have lived in the Arctic region of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Siberia for thousands of years. They have undergone drastic changes due to colonization and urbanization, but their core beliefs and traditions have remained.

Jana Gregorio March 29 2021 in Society

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The Term 'Eskimo' Has A Controversial Past : Goats and Soda There's a new theory about what the term means. But that doesn't change its controversial past.

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Why You Probably Shouldn't Say 'Eskimo'

April 24, 20166:22 AM ET

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Greenland native Nina-Vivi Andersen, pictured in downtown Nuuk, Greenland, has her own perspective on the word Eskimo: "I don't mind to be called Eskimo — it is neutral for me. But when I saw an ice cream store in London with a name — Eskimo — it felt weird. But I feel weird to be called Inuit, too. I'm just a Greenlander."

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MORE ON GREENLAND: This story is part of our special report on Greenland, whose suicide rate is among the highest in the world.

Confused about the word Eskimo? It's a commonly used term referring to the native peoples of Alaska and other Arctic regions, including Siberia, Canada and Greenland. It comes from a Central Algonquian language called Ojibwe, which people still speak around the Great Lakes region on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. But the word has a controversial history. (Editor's note: And that's why it's not used in the stories on Greenland that NPR has posted this week.) People in many parts of the Arctic consider Eskimo a derogatory term because it was widely used by racist, non-native colonizers. Many people also thought it meant eater of raw meat, which connoted barbarism and violence. Although the word's exact etymology is unclear, mid-century anthropologists suggested that the word came from the Latin word excommunicati, meaning the excommunicated ones, because the native people of the Canadian Arctic were not Christian. But now there's a new theory. According to the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, linguists believe the word Eskimo actually came from the French word esquimaux, meaning one who nets snowshoes. Netting snowshoes is the highly-precise way that Arctic peoples built winter footwear by tightly weaving, or netting, sinew from caribou or other animals across a wooden frame. But the correction to the etymological record came too late to rehabilitate the word Eskimo. The word's racist history means most people in Canada and Greenland still prefer other terms. The most widespread is Inuit, which means simply, "people." The singular, which means "person," is Inuk. Of course, as with so many words sullied by the crimes of colonialism, not everyone agrees on what to do with Eskimo. Many Native Alaskans still refer to themselves as Eskimos, in part because the word Inuit isn't part of the Yupik languages of Alaska and Siberia. But unless you're native to the circumpolar region, the short answer is: You probably shouldn't use the word Eskimo.

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Eskimo | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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MLA 8TH EDITION

Parrott, Zach. "Eskimo". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 09 June 2021, Historica Canada. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/eskimo. Accessed 12 March 2024.

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Parrott, Z. (2021). Eskimo. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/eskimo

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CHICAGO 17TH EDITION

Parrott, Zach. "Eskimo." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published August 05, 2008; Last Edited June 09, 2021.

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article

Eskimo

Article by

Zach Parrott

Published Online

August 5, 2008

Last Edited

June 9, 2021

The word Eskimo is an offensive term that has been used historically to describe the Inuit throughout their homeland, Inuit Nunangat, in the arctic regions of Alaska, Greenland and Canada, as well as the Yupik of Alaska and northeastern Russia, and the Inupiat of Alaska. Considered derogatory in Canada, the term was once used extensively in popular culture and by researchers, writers and the general public throughout the world.

(

See also Arctic Indigenous Peoples and Inuit.)

Husky tied to a packed, two-piece Inuit dog sled (courtesy Canada Science and Technology Museum/CN Collection/CN005614).

Origin of the Term

The origin of the word Eskimo is a matter of some contention, but it is generally understood to be of Algonquian origin, Innu-aimun (Montagnais) more specifically. It

was long thought to mean “eaters of raw meat.” Algonquian language speakers (including dialects of Cree, Innu-aimun and Ojibwe)

have used words to describe the Inuit that would substantiate this definition, including ashkipok (Eastern Ojibwe), eshkipot (Ojibwe), askamiciw (Cree), kachikushu (North

Shore Montagnais). (See also Indigenous Languages in Canada.)

However, scholars like Ives Goddard have argued that those forms only support an Ojibwe root, rather than the understood Innu-aimun origin. This theory points to the origin of the word as the Innu-aimun awassimew/ayassimew, which means roughly

“one who laces snowshoes.” It is possible that this term was used generally by the Innu to

describe the Mi’kmaq, and was later transferred to Inuit upon contact between the two groups. As the word came into use in Ojibwe, its original meaning may have become

blurred, as the ashk- prefix can also mean raw or fresh in Ojibwe. French explorers and settlers translated the word toesquimaux, the Danish spelling.

Pejorative and Continued Use

Regardless of the true origin of the name, many people used the term Eskimo to denote Inuit. This use was a catalyst for change in the 1970s. In 1977, Inuit met in Barrow, Alaska,

for the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference. Delegates from the United States, Canada and Greenland formed the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). The ICC Charter,

signed in 1980, defined the Inuit as “Indigenous members of the Inuit homeland recognized by Inuit as being members of their people and shall include the Inupiat, Yupik (Alaska),

Inuit, Inuvialuit (Canada), Kalaallit (Greenland) and Yupik (Russia).” In defining Inuit as such, they rejected the use of the term Eskimo.

Inuit is the standard endonym (a name a group uses to describe itself) for Inuit. The use of Eskimo, an exonym (a name given to a group of people by another group), perpetuates harmful stereotypes of the Inuit as remote and politically insignificant,

while also romanticizing the Arctic. The reason for this persistence may be benign ignorance, or indifference to the implied cultural superiority and disrespect exhibited by its use.

Eskimo is still used by linguists to denote the Eskimo-Aleut language group, and to describe the speakers of the Eskimo branch of the group as a whole. Eskimo-Aleut includes Inuktitut and its dialects, as well as Aleut, the language spoken by the Aleut people of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands and northeastern Russia.

Popular Culture

The “Eskimo Pie,” an ice cream bar dipped in chocolate, exploded in popularity in the United States in 1922, the same year the groundbreaking documentary Nanook of the North was

released. The frozen treat is still sold in the United States. Amid backlash, it was announced in 2020 that the product’s name would be changed.

“Eskimos” or “Eskimo Lollies” are coloured marshmallow candies sold in New Zealand. The candies attracted international attention in 2009 when Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons, an Inuit tourist

in New Zealand, criticized the use of the word to domestic and international media. The candy is undergoing a branding and name change as of 2020.

In Canada, prior to being renamed the Edmonton Elks in 2021, one of the Canadian Football League teams in Alberta was called the Edmonton Eskimos. The Edmonton Eskimos name was used since their founding in 1949, though the name had been used by Edmonton-area teams since

the early 20th century. The team has received criticism for the name, especially because Inuit are not indigenous to the Edmonton area. After a public relations team was hired in 2018 to research public opinion about the name, the team announced that

it would drop the “Eskimo” name.

Popularized by Nanook of the North, an “Eskimo kiss” (known in Inuktitut as akunik )

is a type of greeting in which two parties slowly rub their noses together. However, the popularized “Eskimo kiss” cannot be accurately described as akunik, which involves softly pressing one’s nose to the cheek of another and slowly breathing

in the receiver’s scent. This nuzzle greeting is most often done to babies or small children.

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Two young Inuit mothers wearing amautit (women's parkas with hood) (Nunavut Territory, Canada)

Eskimos or Esquimaux is a term referring to aboriginal people who, together with the related Aleuts, inhabit the circumpolar region, excluding Scandinavia and most of Russia, but including the easternmost portions of Siberia. They are culturally and biologically distinguishable from other Native Americans in the United States and Canada. There are two main groups of Eskimos: the Inuit of northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and the Yupik, comprising speakers of four distinct Yupik languages and originating in western Alaska, in South Central Alaska along the Gulf of Alaska coast, and in the Russian Far East. The term "Eskimo" is not acceptable to those of Canada, who prefer Inuit or those of Greenland who refer to themselves as Kalaallit; however these terms are not appropriate for the Yupik, whose language and ethnicity is distinct from the Inuit. The Aleut culture developed separately from the Inuit around 4,000 years ago.

Contents

1 Terminology

1.1 Origin of the term Eskimo

1.2 Languages

2 History

3 Culture

4 Inuit

4.1 Inupiat

4.2 Inuvialuit

4.3 Kalaallit

4.4 Netsilik

4.5 Tikigaq

5 Yupik

5.1 Alutiiq

5.1.1 Chugach

5.2 Central Alaskan Yup'ik

5.3 Siberian Yupik (Yuit)

5.4 Naukan

5.5 Caribou Eskimos

6 Religion

6.1 Shamanic intiation

6.2 Shamanic language

6.3 Soul dualism

7 Contemporary Eskimo

8 Notes

9 References

10 External links

11 Credits

Although spread over a vast geographical area, there are many commonalities among the different Inuit and Yupik groups. Of particular note are their shamanistic beliefs and practices, although these have all but died out in recent times. Contemporary Eskimo generally live in settled communities with modern technology and houses instead of the traditional igloos, and have come to accept employment and other changes to their lifestyle although they continue to be self-sufficient through their hunting and fishing. The harsh climate still determines much about their lives, and they must maintain a balance between those traditions that have supported them well for generations and changes brought through contact with other cultures.

Terminology

Seal hunter at the floe edge near Cape Dorset (Nunavut Territory, Canada)

The term Eskimo is broadly inclusive of the two major groups, the Inuit—including the Kalaallit (Greenlanders) of Greenland, Inuit and Inuinnait of Canada, and Inupiat of northern Alaska—and the Yupik peoples—the Naukan of Siberia, the Yupik of Siberia in Russia and St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, the Yup'ik of Alaska, and the Alutiiq (Sug'piak or Pacific Eskimo) of southcentral Alaska. The anthropologist Thomas Huxley in On the Methods and Results of Ethnology (1865) defined the "Esquimaux race" to be the indigenous peoples in the Arctic region of northern Canada and Alaska. He described them to "certainly present a new stock" (different from the other indigenous peoples of North America). He described them to have straight black hair, dull skin complexion, short and squat, with high cheek bones and long skulls.

However, in Canada and Greenland, Eskimo is widely considered pejorative and offensive, and has been replaced overall by Inuit. The preferred term in Canada's Central Arctic is Inuinnait, and in the eastern Canadian Arctic Inuit. The language is often called Inuktitut, though other local designations are also used. The Inuit of Greenland refer to themselves as Greenlanders or, in their own language, Kalaallit, and to their language as Greenlandic or Kalaallisut.[1]

Because of the linguistic, ethnic, and cultural differences between Yupik and Inuit languages and peoples, there is still uncertainty as to what term encompassing all Yupik and Inuit people will be acceptable to all. There has been some movement to use Inuit as a term encompassing all peoples formerly described as Eskimo, Inuit and Yupik alike. Strictly speaking, however, Inuit does not refer to the Yupik peoples or languages of Alaska and Siberia. This is because the Yupik languages are linguistically distinct from the Inupiaq and other Inuit languages, and the peoples are ethnically and culturally distinct as well. The word Inuit does not occur in the Yupik languages of Alaska and Siberia.[1]

The term "Eskimo" is also used in some linguistic or ethnographic works to denote the larger branch of Eskimo-Aleut languages, the smaller branch being Aleut. In this usage, Inuit (together with Yupik, and possibly also Sireniki), are sub-branches of the Eskimo language family.

Origin of the term Eskimo

A variety of competing etymologies for the term "Eskimo" have been proposed over the years, but the most likely source is the Montagnais word meaning "snowshoe-netter." Since Montagnais speakers refer to the neighboring Mi'kmaq people using words that sound very much like eskimo, many researchers have concluded that this is the more likely origin of the word.[2][3][4]

An alternative etymology is "people who speak a different language." This was suggested by Jose Mailhot, a Quebec anthropologist who speaks Montagnais.[2]

The primary reason that the term Eskimo is considered derogatory is the perception that in Algonquian languages it means "eaters of raw meat," despite numerous opinions to the contrary.[2][3] [5]Nevertheless, it is commonly felt in Canada and Greenland that the term Eskimo is pejorative.[1][6]

Languages

Distribution of Inuit language variants across the Arctic. Yupik languages are not represented here.

Inuit languages comprise a dialect continuum, or dialect chain, that stretches from Unalaska and Norton Sound in Alaska, across northern Alaska and Canada, and east all the way to Greenland. Changes from western (Inupiaq) to eastern dialects are marked by the dropping of vestigial Yupik-related features, increasing consonant assimilation (for example, kumlu, meaning "thumb," changes to kuvlu, changes to kullu), and increased consonant lengthening, and lexical change. Thus, speakers of two adjacent Inuit dialects would usually be able to understand one another, but speakers from dialects distant from each other on the dialect continuum would have difficulty understanding one another.[7]

The Sirenikski language (extinct) is sometimes regarded as a third branch of the Eskimo language family, but other sources regard it as a group belonging to the Yupik branch.[7]

The four Yupik languages, including Alutiiq (Sugpiaq), Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Naukan (Naukanski), and Siberian Yupik are distinct languages with phonological, morphological, and lexical differences, and demonstrating limited mutual intelligibility. Additionally, both Alutiiq Central Yup'ik have considerable dialect diversity. The northernmost Yupik languages—Siberian Yupik and Naukanski Yupik—are linguistically only slightly closer to Inuit than is Alutiiq, which is the southernmost of the Yupik languages. Although the grammatical structures of Yupik and Inuit languages are similar, they have pronounced differences phonologically, and differences of vocabulary between Inuit and any of one of the Yupik languages is greater than between any two Yupik languages.[7]

History

Did you know?Those previously referred to as "Eskimo" include both Inuit and Yupik cultures

The earliest known Eskimo cultures were the Paleo-Eskimo, the Dorset and Saqqaq culture, which date as far back as 5,000 years ago. They appear to have developed from the Arctic small tool tradition culture. Genetic studies have shown that Paleo-Eskimos were of different stock from other Native Americans.[8] Later, around 1,000 years ago, people of the Thule culture arrived and expanded throughout the area.

Approximately 4,000 years ago, the Aleut (also known as Unangam) culture developed separately, not being considered part of the Eskimo culture today.

Approximately 1,500–2,000 years ago, apparently in Northwestern Alaska, two other distinct variations appeared. The Inuit language branch became distinct and in only several hundred years spread across northern Alaska, Canada, and into Greenland.

Today the two main groups of Eskimos are the Inuit of northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, and the Yupik in western Alaska and South Central Alaska along the Gulf of Alaska coast, and in the Russian Far East.

Culture

King Island or Ukivok Native Eskimo, 1906

Eskimo groups cover a huge area stretching from Eastern Siberia through Alaska and Northern Canada (including Labrador Peninsula) to Greenland. There is a certain unity in the cultures of the Eskimo groups.

Although a large distance separated the Asiatic Eskimos and Greenland Eskimos, their shamanistic seances showed many similarities. Important examples of shamanistic practice and beliefs have been recorded at several parts of this vast area crosscutting continental borders. Also the usage of a specific shaman's language is documented among several Eskimo groups, including groups in Asia. Similar remarks apply for aspects of the belief system not directly linked to shamanism:

tattooing[9]

accepting the killed game as a dear guest visiting the hunter[10]

usage of amulets[11]

lack of totem animals[12][13]

Inuit

Main article: Inuit

An Inuit family

The Inuit inhabit the Arctic and Bering Sea coasts of Siberia and Alaska and Arctic coasts of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, Labrador, and Greenland. Until fairly recent times, there has been a remarkable homogeneity in the culture throughout this area, which traditionally relied on fish, sea mammals, and land animals for food, heat, light, clothing, tools, and shelter.

Canadian Inuit live primarily in Nunavut (a territory of Canada), Nunavik (the northern part of Quebec) and in Nunatsiavut (the Inuit settlement region in Labrador).

Inupiat

Inuit woman, Alaska, c. 1907

Main article: Inupiat

The Inupiat or Inupiaq people are the Inuit people of Alaska's Northwest Arctic and North Slope boroughs and the Bering Straits region, including the Seward Peninsula. Barrow, the northernmost city in the United States, is in the Inupiaq region. Their language is known as Inupiaq.

Inupiat people continue to rely heavily on subsistence hunting and fishing, including whaling. The capture of a whale benefits each member of a community, as the animal is butchered and its meat and blubber allocated according to a traditional formula. Even city-dwelling relatives thousands of miles away are entitled to a share of each whale killed by the hunters of their ancestral village. Muktuk, the skin of bowhead and other whales, is rich in vitamins A and C and contributes to good health in a population with limited access to fruits and vegetables.

In recent years the exploitation of oil and other resources has been an important revenue source for the Inupiat. The Alaska Pipeline connects the Prudhoe Bay wells with the port of Valdez in south central Alaska.

Inupiat people have grown more concerned in recent years that climate change is threatening their traditional lifestyle. The warming trend in the Arctic affects the Inupiaq lifestyle in numerous ways, for example: thinning sea ice makes it more difficult to harvest bowhead whale, seals, walrus, and other traditional foods; warmer winters make travel more dangerous and less predictable; later-forming sea ice contributes to increased flooding and erosion along the coast, directly imperiling many coastal villages. The Inuit Circumpolar Conference, a group representing indigenous peoples of the Arctic, has made the case that climate change represents a threat to their human rights.

Inupiaq groups often have a name ending in "miut." One example is the Nunamiut, a generic term for inland Inupiaq caribou hunters. During a period of starvation and influenza brought by American and European whaling crews, most of these moved to the coast or other parts of Alaska between 1890 and 1910.[14] A number of Nunamiut returned to the mountains in the 1930s. By 1950, most Nunamiut groups, like the Killikmiut, had coalesced in Anaktuvuk Pass, a village in northcentral Alaska. Some of the Nunamiut remained nomadic until the 1950s.

Inuvialuit

The Inuvialuit, or Western Canadian Inuit, are Inuit people who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. Like other Inuit, they are descendants of the Thule people. Their homeland - the Inuvialuit Settlement Region - covers the Arctic Ocean coastline area from the Alaskan border east to Amundsen Gulf and includes the western Canadian Arctic Islands. The land was demarked in 1984 by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

Kalaallit

Kalaallit is the Greenlandic term for the population living in Greenland. The singular term is kalaaleq. Their language is called Kalaallisut. About 80 to 90 percent of Greenland's population, or approximately 44,000 to 50,000 people, identify as being Kalaallit.[15][16]

The Kalaallit have a strong artistic tradition based on sewing animal skins and making masks. They are also known for an art form of figures called tupilaq or an "evil spirit object." Sperm whale ivory remains a valued medium for carving.[15]

Netsilik

The Netsilik Inuit (Netsilingmiut - People of the Seal) live predominately in the communities of Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven of the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut and to a smaller extent in Taloyoak and the north Qikiqtaaluk Region. They were, in the early twentieth century, among the last Northern indigenous people to encounter missionaries from the south. The missionaries introduced a system of written language called Qaniujaaqpait, based on syllabics, to the Netsilik in the 1920s. Eastern Canadian Inuit, among them the Netsilik, were the only Inuit peoples to adopt a syllabic system of writing.

The region where they live has an extremely long winter and stormy conditions in the spring, when starvation was a common danger. The cosmos of many other Eskimo cultures include protective guardian powers, but for the Netsilik the general hardship of life resulted in the extensive use of such measures, and even dogs could have amulets.[17] Unlike the Igluliks, the Netsilik used a large number of amulets. In one recorded instance, a young boy had eighty amulets, so many that he could hardly play.[18]

In addition one man had seventeen names taken from his ancestors that were intended to protect him.[19][20]

Among the Netsilik, tattooing was considered to provide power that could affect which world a woman goes to after her death.[21]

Tikigaq

The Tikigaq, an Inuit people, live two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, 330 miles (531 km) southwest of Barrow, Alaska, in an Inupiaq village of Point Hope, Alaska.[22] The Tikigaq are the oldest continuously settled Native American site on the continent. They are native whale hunters with centuries of experience co-existing with the Chukchi Sea that surrounds their Point Hope Promontory on three sides. "Tikigaq" means "index finger" in the Inupiaq language.

The Tikigaq relied on berries and roots for food, local willows for house frames, and moss or grass for lamp wicks and insulation. Today, distribution and movement of game, especially the beluga, Bowhead whale, caribou, seal, walrus, fur-bearing animals, polar bear and grizzly bear, directly effect the lives of Tikigaq.[23]

Yupik

Main article: Yupik

Fish mask of the Yup'ik people.

The Yupik live along the coast of western Alaska, especially on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta and along the Kuskokwim River (Central Alaskan Yup'ik), in southern Alaska (the Alutiiq) and in the Russian Far East and Saint Lawrence Island in western Alaska (the Siberian Yupik).

Alutiiq

Alutiiq dancer

The Alutiiq also called Pacific Yupik or Sugpiaq, are a southern, coastal branch of Yupik. They are not to be confused with the Aleuts, who live further to the southwest, including along the Aleutian Islands. They traditionally lived a coastal lifestyle, subsisting primarily on ocean resources such as salmon, halibut, and whale, as well as rich land resources such as berries and land mammals. Alutiiq people today live in coastal fishing communities, where they work in all aspects of the modern economy, while also maintaining the cultural value of subsistence. The Alutiiq language is relatively close to that spoken by the Yupik in the Bethel, Alaska area, but is considered a distinct language with two major dialects: the Koniag dialect, spoken on the Alaska Peninsula and on Kodiak Island, and the Chugach dialect, is spoken on the southern Kenai Peninsula and in Prince William Sound. Residents of Nanwalek, located on southern part of the Kenai Peninsula near Seldovia, speak what they call Sugpiaq and are able to understand those who speak Yupik in Bethel. With a population of approximately 3,000, and the number of speakers in the mere hundreds, Alutiiq communities are currently in the process of revitalizing their language.

Chugach

Chugach man in traditional dress

Chugach is the name of the group of people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound. The Chugach people speak the Chugach dialect of the Alutiiq language.

The Chugach people gave their name to Chugach National Forest, the Chugach Mountains, and Alaska's Chugach State Park, all located in or near the traditional range of the Chugach people in southcentral Alaska. Chugach Alaska Corporation, an Alaska Native regional corporation created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, also derives its name from the Chugach people, many of whom are shareholders of the corporation.

Central Alaskan Yup'ik

Yup'ik man of Nunivak Island, 1929

Yup'ik, with an apostrophe, denotes the speakers of the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, who live in western Alaska and southwestern Alaska from southern Norton Sound to the north side of Bristol Bay, on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and on Nelson Island. The use of the apostrophe in the name Yup'ik denotes a longer pronunciation of the p sound than found in Siberian Yupik. Of all the Alaska Native languages, Central Alaskan Yup'ik has the most speakers, with about 10,000 of a total Yup'ik population of 21,000 still speaking the language. There are five dialects of Central Alaskan Yup'ik, including General Central Yup'ik and the Egegik, Norton Sound, Hooper Bay-Chevak, Nunivak, dialects. In the latter two dialects, both the language and the people are called Cup'ik.[24]

Siberian Yupik (Yuit)

Main article: Siberian Yupik

Siberian Yupik reside along the Bering Sea coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in Siberia in the Russian Far East[7] and in the villages of Gambell and Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska.[25] The Central Siberian Yupik spoken on the Chukchi Peninsula and on Saint Lawrence Island is nearly identical. About 1,050 of a total Alaska population of 1,100 Siberian Yupik people in Alaska still speak the language, and it is still the first language of the home for most Saint Lawrence Island children. In Siberia, about 300 of a total of 900 Siberian Yupik people still learn the language, though it is no longer learned as a first language by children. Like the Netsiliks, the Yupik also practiced tattooing.[9]

Naukan

The Naukan originate on the the Chukot Peninsula in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in Siberia. It is estimated that about 70 of 400 Naukan people still speak the Naukanski.

Caribou Eskimos

“Caribou Eskimos” is a collective name for several groups of inland Eskimos (the Krenermiut, Aonarktormiut, Harvaktormiut, Padlermiut and Ahearmiut) living in an area bordered by the tree line and the west shore of Hudson Bay. They do not form a political unit and contacts between the groups are loose, but they share an inland lifestyle and exhibit some cultural unity. In the recent past, the Padlermiuts did have contact with the sea where they took part in seal hunts.[26]

The Caribou had a dualistic concept of the soul. The soul associated with respiration was called umaffia (place of life)[27] and the personal soul of a child was called tarneq (corresponding to the nappan of the Copper Eskimos). The tarneq was considered so weak that it needed the guardianship of a name-soul of a dead relative. The presence of the ancestor in the body of the child was felt to contribute to a more gentle behavior, especially among boys.[28] This belief amounted to a form of reincarnation.[29]

Because of their inland lifestyle, the Caribou had no belief concerning a Sea Woman. Other cosmic beings, variously named Sila or Pinga, take her place, controlling caribou instead of marine animals. Some groups made a distinction between the two figures, while others considered them the same. Sacrificial offerings to them could promote luck in hunting.[30]

Caribou shamans performed fortune-telling through qilaneq, a technique of asking a qila (spirit). The shaman placed his glove on the ground, and raised his staff and belt over it. The qila then entered the glove and drew the staff to itself. Qilaneq was practiced among several other Eskimo groups, where it was used to receive "yes" or "no" answers to questions.[31][32]

Religion

Yup'ik shaman exorcising evil spirits from a sick boy. Nushagak, Alaska, 1890s.[33]

The term “shamanism” has been used for various distinct cultures. Classically, some indigenous cultures of Siberia were described as having shamans, but the term is now commonly used for other cultures as well. In general, the shamanistic belief systems accept that certain people (shamans) can act as mediators with the spirit world,[34] contacting the various entities (spirits, souls, and mythological beings) that populate the universe in those systems.

Shamanism among Eskimo peoples refers to those aspects of the various Eskimo cultures that are related to the shamans’ role as a mediator between people and spirits, souls, and mythological beings. Such beliefs and practices were once widespread among Eskimo groups, but today are rarely practiced, and it was already in the decline among many groups even in the times when the first major ethnological researches were done.[35] For example, at the end of the nineteenth century, Sagloq died, the last shaman who was believed to be able to travel to the sky and under the sea.[36]

Shamans use various means, including music, recitation of epic, dance, and ritual objects[37] to interact with the spirit world - either for the benefit of the community or for doing harm. They may have spirits that assist them and may also travel to other worlds (or other aspects of this world). Most Eskimo groups had such a mediator function,[38] and the person fulfilling the role was believed to be able to command helping spirits, ask mythological beings (such as Nuliayuk, the Sea Woman) to “release” the souls of animals, enable the success of the hunt, or heal sick people by bringing back their “stolen” souls. Shaman is used in an Eskimo context in a number of English-language publications, both academic and popular, generally in reference to the angakkuq among the Inuit. The /aˈliɣnalʁi/ of the Siberian Yupiks is also translated as “shaman” in both Russian and English literature.[39][40]

Shamanism among the Eskimo peoples exhibits some characteristic features not universal in shamanism, such as a dualistic concept of the soul in certain groups, and specific links between the living, the souls of hunted animals and dead people.[41] The death of either a person or a game animal requires that certain activities, such as cutting and sewing, be avoided to prevent harming their souls. In Greenland, the transgression of this death taboo could turn the soul of the dead into a tupilak, a restless ghost which scared game away. Animals were thought to flee hunters who violated taboos.[42]

The Eskimo belief system includes a number of supernatural beings. One such cosmic being known as Moon Man was thought to be friendly towards people and their souls as they arrive in celestial places.[43][44] This belief differs from that of the Greenland Eskimos, where the Moon’s anger was feared as a consequence of some taboo breaches.

Silap Inua was a sophisticated concept among Eskimo cultures (where its manifestation varied). Often associated with weather, it was conceived of as a power contained in people.[45] Among the Netsilik, Sila was imagined as male. The Netsilik (and Copper Eskimos) held that Sila originated as a giant baby whose parents were killed in combat between giants.[46]

The Sea Woman was known as Nuliayuk “the lubricous one.”[47] If the people breached certain taboos, she would hold the marine animals in the tank of her lamp. When this happened the shaman had to visit her to beg for game. The Netsilik myth concerning her origin stated that she was an orphan girl who had been mistreated by her community. Several barriers had to be surmounted (such as a wall or a dog) and in some instances even the Sea Woman herself must be fought. If the shaman succeeds in appeasing her the animals will be released as normal.

The Iglulik variant of a myth explaining the Sea Woman’s origins involves a girl and her father. The girl did not want to marry. However, a bird managed to trick her into marriage and took her to an island. The girl's father managed to rescue his daughter, but the bird created a storm which threatened to sink their boat. Out of fear the father threw his daughter into the ocean, and cut her fingers as she tried to climb back into the boat. The cut joints became various sea mammals and the girl became a ruler of marine animals, living under the sea. Later on her remorseful father joined her. This local variant differs from several others, like that of the Netsiliks, which is about an orphan girl mistreated by her community.

Shamanic intiation

Unlike many Siberian traditions, in which spirits force individuals to become shamans, most Eskimo shamans choose this path.[48] Even when someone receives a “calling,” that individual may refuse it.[49] The process of becoming an Eskimo shaman usually involves difficult learning and initiation rites, sometimes including a vision quest. Like the shamans of other cultures, some Eskimo shamans are believed to have special qualifications: they may have been an animal during a previous period, and thus be able to use their valuable experience for the benefit of the community.[50][51][52]

The initiation process varies from culture to culture. It may include:

a specific kind of vision quest, such as among the Chugach.

various kinds of out-of-body experiences such seeing oneself as skeleton, exemplified in Aua's (Iglulik) narration and a Baker Lake artwork [53][54]

Shamanic language

In several groups, shamans utilized a distinctly archaic version of the normal language interlaced with special metaphors and speech styles. Expert shamans could speak whole sentences differing from vernacular speech.[55] In some groups such variants were used when speaking with spirits invoked by the shaman, and with unsocialized babies who grew into the human society through a special ritual performed by the mother. Some writers have treated both phenomena as a language for communication with “alien” beings (mothers sometimes used similar language in a socialization ritual, in which the newborn is regarded as a little “alien” - just like spirits or animal souls).[56] The motif of a distinction between spirit and “real” human is also present in a tale of Ungazigmit (subgroup of Siberian Yupik)[57] The oldest man asked the girl: “What, are you not a spirit?” The girl answered: “I am not a spirit. Probably, are you spirits?” The oldest man said: “We are not spirits, [but] real human.”

Soul dualism

The Eskimo shaman may fulfill multiple functions, including healing, curing infertile women, and securing the success of hunts. These seemingly unrelated functions can be grasped better by understanding the concept of soul dualism which, with some variation, underlies them.

Healing

It is held that the cause of sickness is soul theft, in which someone (perhaps an enemy shaman or a spirit) has stolen the soul of the sick person. The person remains alive because people have multiple souls, so stealing the appropriate soul causes illness or a moribund state rather than immediate death. It takes a shaman to retrieve the stolen soul.[58] According to another variant among Ammassalik Eskimos in East Greenland, the joints of the body have their own small souls, the loss of which causes pain.[59]

Fertility

The shaman provides assistance to the soul of an unborn child to allow its future mother to become pregnant.[60]

Success of hunts

When game is scarce the shaman can visit a mythological being who protects all sea creatures (usually the Sea Woman Sedna). Sedna keeps the souls of sea animals in her house or in a pot. If the shaman pleases her, she releases the animal souls thus ending the scarcity of game.

It is the shaman's free soul that undertakes these spirit journeys (to places such as the land of dead, the home of the Sea Woman, or the moon) whilst his body remains alive. When a new shaman is first initiated, the initiator extracts the shaman's free soul and introduces it to the helping spirits so that they will listen when the new shaman invokes them[61]; or according to an another explanation (that of the Iglulik shaman Aua) the souls of the vital organs of the apprentice must move into the helping spirits: the new shaman should not feel fear of the sight of his new helping spirits.[62]

A human child's developing soul is usually “supported” by a name-soul: a baby can be named after a deceased relative, invoking the departed name-soul which will then accompany and guide the child until adolescence. This concept of inheriting name-souls amounts to a sort of reincarnation among some groups, such as the Caribou Eskimos.

The boundary between shaman and lay person was not always clearly demarcated. Non-shamans could also experience hallucinations,[63] almost every Eskimo may report memories about ghosts, animals in human form, little people living in remote places. Experiences such as hearing voices from ice or stones were discussed as readily as everyday hunting adventures.[64] The ability to have and command helping spirits was characteristic of shamans, but non-shamans could also profit from spirit powers through the use of amulets.[65]

Contemporary Eskimo

Eskimos throughout the U.S. and Canada live in largely settled communities, working for corporations and unions, and have come to embrace other cultures and contemporary conveniences in their lifestyle. Although still self-sufficient through their time-honored traditions of fishing and hunting, the Eskimos are no longer completely dependent on their own arctic resources. Many have adopted the use of modern technology in the way of snowmobiles instead of dog sleds, and modern houses instead of igloos.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 granted Alaska natives some 44 million acres of land and established native village and regional corporations to encourage economic growth. In 1990 the Eskimo population of the United States was approximately 57,000, with most living in Alaska. There are over 33,000 Inuit in Canada (the majority living in Nunavut), the Northwest Territories, North Quebec, and Labrador. Nunavut was created out of the Northwest Territories in 1999 as a predominately Inuit territory, with political separation. A settlement with the Inuit of Labrador established (2005) Nunatsiavut, which is a self-governing area in north and central east Labrador. There are also Eskimo populations in Greenland and Siberia.

In 2011, John Baker became the first Inupiat Eskimo, and the first Native Alaskan since 1976, to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, setting a new record time.[66] He was greeted by drummers and dancers from his Inupiat tribe, many relatives and supporters from his home town of Kotzebue, as well as Denise Michels, the first Inupiat to be elected mayor of Nome.[67]

Notes

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lawrence Kaplan, "Inuit or Eskimo: Which names to use?". Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2002. Retrieved September 19, 2011.

↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 J. Mailhot, "L'étymologie de «Esquimau» revue et corrigée." Etudes Inuit/Inuit Studies 2(2) (1978):59–70.

↑ 3.0 3.1 Ives Goddard, "Synonymy." In David Damas (ed.) Handbook of North American Indians:Volume 5 Arctic (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1985, 978-0874741858), 5-7.

↑ Lyle Campbell, American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 394.

↑ Setting the Record Straight About Native Languages: What Does "Eskimo" Mean In Cree? Native Languages of the Americas website. Retrieved September 20, 2011.

↑ Pamela R. Stern, Historical Dictionary of the Inuit (Scarecrow Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0810850583).

↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Lawrence Kaplan, "Comparative Yupik and Inuit". Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Retrieved September 20, 2011.

↑ Daniel Cressey, Unexpected origin of an early Eskimo Nature News, May 29, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2011.

↑ 9.0 9.1 Lars Krutak, Tattoos of the early hunter-gatherers of the Arctic The Vanishing Tatoo. Retrieved October 25, 2007.

↑ E. S. Rubcova, Materials on the Language and Folklore of the Eskimoes, Vol. I, Chaplino Dialect. (Moscow & Leningrad: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1954), 218

↑ Rubcova (1954), 380

↑ (Russian) A radio interview with Russian scientists about Asian Eskimos transcript (in Russian)

↑ A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, "The Sociological Theory of Totemism." In Structure and Function in Primitive Society. (Glencoe: The Free Press, 1965).

↑ John Bockstoce, Whales, Ice, & Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic. (University of Washington Press, 1995).

↑ 15.0 15.1 Ingo Hessel, Arctic Spirit (Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 2006, ISBN 978-1553651895).

↑ Geoffery Baldacchino, Extreme Tourism: Lessons from the World's Cold Water Islands (Elsevier Science, 2006, ISBN 978-0080446561), 101.

↑ Knud Rasmussen, Thulei utazás. (Világjárók) (Budapest: Gondolat, 1965. (Hungarian translation of German original 1926), 268.

↑ I. Kleivan and B. Sonne, "Arctic Peoples," in Eskimos: Greenland and Canada, section VIII, fascicle 2. Institute of Religious Iconography, State University Groningen. (Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1985. Iconography of religions), 43

↑ Rasmussen, 1965.

↑ Kleivan and Sonne 1985, 15

↑ Rasmussen 1965, 256, 279

↑ Point Hope, Alaska Tikigaq Corporation: An Alaska Native Village Corporation. Retrieved September 20, 2011.

↑ Iñupiaq People Tikigaq Corporation: An Alaska Native Village Corporation. Retrieved September 20, 2011.

↑ Alaska Native Language Center, "Central Alaskan Yup'ik." Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Retrieved September 20, 2011.

↑ Alaska Native Language Center. (2001-12-07). "Siberian Yupik." Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Anchorage. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.

↑ Gabus 1970:145

↑ Kleivan & Sonne 1985:18

↑ Gabus 1970:111

↑ Kleivan & Sonne 1985:18, Gabus 1970:212

↑ Kleivan & Sonne 1985:31, 36

↑ Rasmussen 1965:108, Kleivan & Sonne 1985:26

↑ Gabus 1970:227–228

↑ Ann Fienup-Riordan. Boundaries and Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition. (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994), 206.

↑ Mihály Hoppál. Sámánok Eurázsiában. (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2005. “Shamans in Eurasia”), 45–50

↑ Daniel Merkur, Becoming Half Hidden: Shamanism and Initiation among the Inuit. (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1985), 132

↑ Merkur, 134

↑ Hoppál 2005:14

↑ Menovščikov, "Popular Conceptions, Religious Beliefs and Rites of the Asiatic Eskimoes," translated into English and published in: Vilmos Diószegi and Mihály Hoppál, [1968] Folk Beliefs and Shamanistic Traditions in Siberia. (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1996.)

1968:442

↑ Rubcova 1954, 203–219

↑ Menovščikov 1968, 442

↑ Vitebsky 1996, 14

↑ Kleivan and Sonne 1985, 12–13, 18–21, 23

↑ Kleivan and Sonne 1985, 30

↑ Rasmussen 1965, 279

↑ Rasmussen 1965, 106

↑ Kleivan and Sonne 1985, 31

↑ Kleivan and Sonne 1985, 27

↑ Sam Diószegi. Vilmos. Samanizmus.Élet és Tudomány Kiskönyvtár (Budapest: Gondolat, 1962)

↑ Kleivan and Sonne 1985:24

↑ Heinz Barüske, “Die Seele, die alle Tiere durchwanderte,” in Eskimo Märchen. (tale 7). (Düsseldorf: Eugen Diederichs, 1969, 19–23

↑ Vitebsky 1996, 106

↑ Knud Rasmussen, “The Soul that Lived in the Bodies of All Beasts,” in Eskimo Folk-Tales, trans. W. Worster, with illustrations by native Eskimo artists. (London: Gyldendal, 1921), 100.

↑ Kleivan and Sonne 1985, 38, plate XXIII

↑ Vitebsky 1996, 18

↑ Merkur 1985, 7

↑ Kleivan and Sonne 1985, 6, 14, 33

↑ Rubcova 1954, 175, 34–38

↑ Rasmussen 1965, 177

↑ Gabus, 274

↑ Merkur 1985, 4

↑ Merkur 1985, 121

↑ Rasmussen 1965, 170

↑ Merkur 1985, 41–42

↑ Gabus 1970, 203

↑ Kleivan and Sonne, 1985.

↑ Iditarod Staff, The Iditarod Has a New Champion: Kotzebue Alaska’s John Baker Eye on the Trail (March 15, 2011).

↑ Yereth Rosen, Alaska Native wins Iditarod for 1st time since 1976 Reuters (March 15, 2011).

ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Bockstoce, John. Whales, Ice, & Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0295974477

Campbell, Lyle. American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0195140507

Damas, David (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians: Volume 5 Arctic. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 1985. ISBN 978-0874741858

Diószegi, Vilmos. Samanizmus. Budapest: Gondolat, 1962. Élet és Tudomány Kiskönyvtár

Fienup-Riordan, Ann. Boundaries and Passages: Rule and Ritual in Yup'ik Eskimo Oral Tradition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994.

Gabus, Jean. A karibu eszkimók. Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó, 1970. Translation of the original: Vie et coutumes des Esquimaux Caribous. Lausanne: Libraire Payot, 1944.

Gubser, Nicholas. The Nunamiut Eskimos, Hunters of Caribou, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1969. ASIN B000WQ6YFC

Hoppál, Mihály. Sámánok Eurázsiában. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2005. In Hungarian ISBN 9630582953

Ingstad, Helge. Nunamiut; among Alaska's Inland Eskimos. Countryman, 2006. ISBN 978-0881507614

Kleivan, Inge, and Birgitte Sonne. Eskimos: Greenland and Canada. Brill Academic Pub, 1997. ISBN 9004071601

Mauss, Marcel. Translated, with a foreword by James J. Fox. Seasonal variations of the Eskimo: a study in social morphology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 2004 (original 1950). ISBN 978-0415330350

Menovščikov, G. A. (Г. А. Меновщиков). Popular Conceptions, Religious Beliefs and Rites of the Asiatic Eskimoes, Translated into English and published in: Vilmos Diószegiand, Folk Beliefs and Shamanistic Traditions in Siberia. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1996 (original 1968). ISBN 978-9630569651

Merkur, Daniel. Becoming Half Hidden: Shamanism and Initiation among the Inuit. Routledge, 2016 (original 1985). ISBN 978-1138964471

Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. Structure and Function in Primitive Society. Glencoe: The Free Press, 1965. ISBN 978-0029256206

Rasmussen, Knud (ed.) “The Soul that Lived in the Bodies of All Beasts,” in Eskimo Folk-Tales, ed. and trans. W. Worster, with illustrations by native Eskimo artists. London: Gyldendal, 1921.

Rasmussen, Knud. Thulefahrt Frankfurt am Main: Frankurter Societăts-Druckerei, 1926. (in German)

Rasmussen, Knud. Thulei utazás. (Világjárók) Budapest: Gondolat, 1965. (Hungarian translation of Rasmussen 1926).

Rasmussen, Knud (ed.). Eskimo Folk-Tales. Dodo Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1409987253

Rubcova, E. S. Materials on the Language and Folklore of the Eskimoes (Vol. I, Chaplino Dialect) Moscow & Leningrad: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1954. ASIN B00460ZHEY (Original data: Рубцова Е. С. Материалы по языку и фольклору эскимосов (чаплинский диалект) 1954 Академия Наук СССР Москва • Ленинград.)

Sprott, Julie E. Raising Young Children in an Alaskan Iñupiaq Village The Family, Cultural, and Village Environment of Rearing. Praeger, 2003. ISBN 0897897897

Stern, Pamela R. Historical Dictionary of the Inuit. Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0810850583

Vitebsky, Piers. The Shaman: Voyages of the Soul - Trance, Ecstasy and Healing from Siberia to the Amazon. London: Duncan Baird, 2001. ISBN 1903296188

Vitebsky, Piers. A sámán Bölcsesség • hit • mítosz Budapest: Magyar Könyvklub, 1996 Helikon Kiadó ISBN 963548254X (Translation of the original: Secrets of the Shaman (Living Wisdom) London: Duncan Baird, 1995. ISBN 0705430618

Voigt, Miklós. Világnak kezdetétől fogva / Történeti folklorisztikai tanulmányok. Budapest: Universitas Könyvkiadó, 2000. ISBN 978-9639104396 (in Hungarian) In it, on pp 41–45: Sámán—a szó és értelme (The etymology and meaning of word shaman).

External links

All links retrieved August 16, 2017.

The Peoples of the Red Book The Asiatic (Siberian) Eskimos (in English)

University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Alaska and Western Canada Collection Images documenting Alaska and Western Canada, primarily the provinces of Yukon Territory and British Columbia depicting scenes of the Gold Rush of 1898, city street scenes, Eskimo and Native Americans of the region, hunting and fishing, and transportation.

University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Arthur Churchill Warner Photographs Includes images of Eskimos from 1898-1900.

Kalaallit Nunaat

Wisdom from Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder, Angaangaq

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