Montshire Minute: Inuit Culture

Originally aired during the week of November 3, 2002

Monday

The word Eskimo comes from Algonquin, and means "eaters of raw meat." The Inuit name for themselves translates in English simply as "the people." The Inuit's ancestors came over the land bridge from Asia, probably around 3000 BC. Ever since, these Americans have lived in the far northern regions of the continent. They certainly are meat eaters, for they live on the northern tundra, a treeless landscape where the ground remains mostly frozen all year round and the temperature never gets much higher than 50 degrees during the summer. Your lettuce and radishes wouldn't do so well here! So the Inuit eat what nature gives them - meat from fish, seal, whale, walrus and other game. Given this diet, early white explorers wondered how the Inuit avoided scurvy, an illness caused by lack of vitamin C. But it turns out raw skin of a whale has a much vitamin C as oranges!

Tuesday

We tend to think of the Arctic north as an endless landscape of sameness - long stretches of tundra or ice, with not so much as a tree or shrub to break up the monotony. Yet to those who live there it is a land of great extremes and great diversity. Between March and November there is darkness 24 hours a day, but between May and September, the sun never goes down. Explorer and scientist Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who lived in Canada and the United States, but spent nine years in the far north, perhaps did more than any other person to describe the richness of Inuit culture. You can see for yourself the resourcefulness of the Inuit people in a new exhibit at the Montshire called the Friendly Arctic opening November 2, 2002. In words and pictures, it tells the story of Inuit life through the writings and photographs of Vilhjalmur Stefansson.

Wednesday

Jack London's classic story "To Build a Fire" shows how winter travelers in the far north stood on the knife-edge of survival. Getting one's feet wet in winter can be a death sentence in the Arctic if clothes cannot be dried immediately. How do Inuit peoples survive the harsh, unforgiving cold? Using thread made from caribou sinew and needles carved from bone, the Inuit made their own clothes from what nature provided. Remember how your mom always told you to dress in layers? Well, she was pretty sharp because that's what the Inuits do. Fur coats were made from bearskin, seal, caribou or fox fur. Under that went layers of clothes that fit snugly at the neck, wrists and ankles. To keep dry, they made waterproof parkas from the intestines of seal or walrus. Boots were often made of sealskin and hoods were often lines with foxtails.

Thursday

Inuit people not only managed to survive harsh Arctic climates for centuries, they did it in style, using what nature gave them for food, clothing, and shelter. Inuit hunters had to be able to escape from bad weather by whipping up an igloo to stay a night or two. But when they had the time, they build comfortable family dwellings. In southern Alaska, the Inuit built wooden houses or wood and sod structures partially underground. The domed shaped igloos built of naturally packed snow shaped into wedge shaped blocks, provided very good insulation. The dome shape mitigated high winds, and an entrance tunnel (with the mouth away from the wind) could be closed for the night using skins or a snow block. The Inuit slept in the igloo under soft fur blankets by the flickering lamp that burned whale or walrus blubber. Maybe it's not the Ritz, but it does sound cozy, huh?

Friday

Bringing home the bacon is certainly not as easy a stopping at the corner grocery store when you live in northern Alaska. To provide enough food for themselves, their families, and their dogs, Inuit hunters really had to exert themselves. After all, a team of dogs can pull a fully loaded sled for many miles, but they can't pull 800 pounds very far on empty stomachs! Hunters had to be able to throw harpoons seven or eight yards with accuracy, or wait patiently besides breathing holes of seals in subzero temperatures for hours at a time. Imagine reeling in a struggling 2000-pound walrus! Now that's hunting. You can see for yourself the resourcefulness of the Inuit people in a new exhibit at Montshire called the Friendly Arctic. In words and pictures, it tells the story of Inuit life through the writings and the camera lens of famed explorer and scientist Vilhjalmur Stefansson.