The Inuit Lifestyle
The lives of the Inuit depended on successful hunting and successful adaption to the frigid Arctic climate. Everyone had a role to play in the work necessary for survival. It was very important to contribute to the group as a whole. People shared in most everything they did, from building shelters to helping mind the children of others. Hunters shared food with widows, elderly people or people who could not hunt. People who were unable to hunt did other work to support the hunting efforts. A spirit of cooperativeness and adaptability was highly valued.
Families were close knit and the children were treated with love and respect and valued for their contributions to the survival of the group. Children were very aware of how they should behave and were rarely punished. Behaving well was also expected from adults who depended on each other for their most basic survival. Banishment from the group was used only in extreme and rare instances. Arguments might be settled by contests – sometimes by a contest of skills and sometimes by a simple singing contest. If two people disagreed they might make up songs to insult each other and then perform them at a community gathering. The person whose song was funniest, or most clever or insulting would be declared the winner.
The Inuit had no formal leaders or chiefs, but there were leaders in certain areas chosen for their skills. For example, on a hunting expedition the best hunter might be named the leader of the trip. Leaders talked amongst one another and with the group to determine what was best for all. Shamans (angakkuq), people thought to have special spiritual powers, were appointed the leaders in spiritual matters. The Inuit believed that each person had more than one spirit and the shaman would help to communicate with these spirits. Their job also included helping cure certain injuries or illnesses.
Women traditionally were experts at making clothing and boots from animal skins and furs. They used the animal skins to make such items as polar bearskin trousers (nannuk), caribou skin parkas (qulittaq) and sealskin boots (kamik) and mittens. They lined the warm clothing with inner layers of sheepskin or the fur of Arctic hares. They first had to clean the hides and stretch the fur on a frame to dry. The women then chewed on the dried skin to soften it for sewing with thread made from sinew.
On a hunt, men were serious, determined and often worked in silence. But outside of the hunt, the Inuit adults and children were cheerful and fun loving – joking, laughing, singing, storytelling and game-playing were popular ways to spend the time between hunts or during dark, winter days and nights.
NOTE: In the Links section please see links to websites which share information about traditional Inuit games and links to websites which can teach you how to build an igloo, how to make your own soapstone carving and many other fun activities.