Arctic foragers are the various hunter-gatherer peoples occupying the circumpolar region of the earth. They are often divided into two major groups: the Inuit of northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland; and the Yupik of western Alaska, Alaskan coastal zones, and areas of Russia including Siberia. These two broad categories encompass a variety of sociolinguistically distinct groups. Arctic foragers are often colloquially lumped under the broader terms Eskimo or Aleut.
Region
The Arctic is one of the harshest environments that humans inhabit. Arctic foragers though highly variable in social and technological characteristics, all have to deal with similar harsh conditions: long periods of bitter cold, extreme seasonal changes in the photoperiod, and a low environmental biomass (So 1980). The processes of evolution have to some extent acclimatized humans to the cold environment, particularly in morphology (So 1980:3-5). However, the majority of adaptations to the environment have been through sociocultural means - as is the case with all human society. The Arctic is also one of the most variable environments on the planet as Condon states below:
Seasonal changes in temperature, rainfall, photoperiod, wind speed and direction, and light intensity have forced human societies to deal with subsequent variations in food availability, disease, social stress, mobility patterns, demography, and social networks to name a few. By far, the most dramatic seasonal variation is evidenced in the circumpolar Arctic (Condon 1983:1).
The lack of supporting vegetation has forced most Arctic foragers to subsist almost entirely on meat. The instability of meat as a food source has driven many Arctic peoples to become highly mobile and specialize in different types of hunting and fishing in different seasons. One society, the Netsilik, had a precise seasonal cycle which required them to travel great distances to find food (Balikci 1970). Through a variety of adaptive biological and cultural changes, humans have been able to survive in the circumpolar environment for many thousands of years.
Language
The languages of Arctic foragers have been arranged into two broad radiations, Aleutian and Eskimoan. It has been estimated that 15% to 25% of Aleut stems have Eskimo cognates, which suggests that they diverged as recent as 3,000 years ago (Bergsland 1986). Aleutian is known historically by one language, divided into two dialects, between which the differences are less marked than among the dialects of any single Eskimo language (Dumond 1987). The Eskimoan family is more diverse; encompassing two subfamilies and as many as 18 distinct languages, each with a variety of regional dialects (see figure below).
History
Early History
8000-6000 B.C.
The remote ancestors of the North American and Asian Arctic foragers dispersed from the Bering Platform and expanded across Alaska and Siberia. At this time the dispersal did not move far eastward. The direction of their dispersal was toward the southern Alaskan coast and southeastward down the Northwest Coast and through the Northwest interior about as far as the present southern border of Canada (Dumond 1987). The lack of ancestral Eskimo artifacts no farther south than modern Washington strongly suggests they were not among the earliest immigrants to the new world (Dumond 1987).
4000-2500 B.C.
Differences between coastal and interior peoples became more pronounced as material culture and languages started to differentiate to a greater degree. Secondary and tertiary dispersals from Siberia occurred as Alaskan settlements began to appear farther south. Northern Alaskans expanded eastward to Greenland and began to differentiate in language and material culture (Dumond 1987).
1000 B.C.-1700 A.D.
Foragers on the coastal areas of Alaska, particularly the Kodiak region, began to associate with Siberian foragers. They adopted Asian ceramics and became more interested in the sea cost as a resource (Dumond 1987). During this period open water hunting of whales and other large sea mammals became more common. By A.D. 1000 Eskimo-speaking peoples had expanded into Greenland and the North Pacific, where they continued relatively unaffected by outsiders until the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century (Dumond 1987).
European Contact
There is evidence that early Arctic foragers maintained a light trade with the Greenland Norse colonies for centuries (Kaplan 1980). The Thule Inuit in particular had the most contact with the Norse and with later Europeans (Kaplan 1980). It has also been suggested that there was hostility among the Greenland Inuit and Norse settlements; some have even argued that the Inuit contributed to the Norse exodus from Greenland (Seaver 1996). After the Norse had disappeared, Europeans were not seen again for at least a century (Kaplan 1980). The arrival of Basque fishermen and Dutch whalers in the 16th and 17th centuries did little to affect the life of the Inuit living in Greenland and Canada, but it would mark beginning of a larger influx of European explorers and fishermen (Kaplan 1980). Once exploration and trading began in earnest, next came an influx of Christian missionaries that spread across the continent (Fair 2000). Ernest S. Burch Jr. depicts the missionaries as, "[coming] with the explicit goal of 'saving' the natives, which meant, in practice, the elimination of most of the fundamental values that the Eskimos had" (Burch 1975:32). Also with European contact came new illnesses that native populations had no immunity against, as well as alcohol and problems it brings (Fair 2000). Europeans also introduced what some would see as improvements: such as formal education, lumber housing, luxury items made of metal, as well as the introduction of a cash economy (Bodfish 1991).
The Twentieth Century
"As the demand for North American furs decreased in England, and during times when animal resources were scarce, many Inuit were unable to survive by trade. The collapse of the fur trade brought with it a significant economic shift for the Inuit, who had come to rely on the patterns of hunting and trapping and on trading their harvested goods for European goods at the post. This period of reduced trade revenue and scarce animal resources brought with it great hardship for many Inuit families, including starvation for some of them" (Patrick 2003:76-77).
Aid from the Canadian government came slowly at first, but increased after the Second World War. While this helped the Inuit during harsh winters, it began a shift toward dependence for the Inuit on the financial benefits of Canadian aid. From 1922 on, medical aid (the Arctic Patrol) came after reports of infectious diseases in the area, such as tuberculosis. Permanent law enforcement began in 1940 through the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). 1947 brought family allowance cheques and old age pensions to the Inuit and 1955 saw the introduction of wage labor. (Patrick 2003:77-78)
Photo: (Steltzer 1982:100)
Subsistence
The Inuit rely heavily on hunting meat for subsistence, as there is very little Arctic vegetation to assist in meeting their caloric needs. They exploit a variety of Arctic animals, including, but not limited to: seal, walrus, caribou, whales, fish, polar bear and waterfowl. There is often regional variation in the preference of prey. The Inuit are more likely to rely on whaling when they reside more frequently on islands or narrow peninsulas, while inland peoples are more likely to hunt caribou if they do not have ready access to large bodies of water (Freeman 1984). Due to the great variability of climate and migratory prey, the Inuit more frequently focus on geographically small and highly scattered hunting grounds. The mobile nature of most Arctic foraging societies enables long distance travel in order to exploit seasonal abundance of different species - one example being the Netsilik who hunt seals out on the ice during winter, and hunt caribou and fish for salmon during the warmer months (Balikci 1970). During the early spring, seal are often taken when they are sleeping, exposed on the ice sheet. During the summer time, Inuit groups frequently hunt caribou and fish inland rivers in collective bands. Walrus hunting usually takes place in the fall, along their coastal migratory routes (Freeman 1984).
Photo: (Steltzer 1982:91)
Material Culture
Balikci divides the raw materials that the Netsilik used into four complexes: snow and ice, skin, bone and stone (Balikci 1970). The Iglulik and the Copper Inuit utilize similar technologies (Damas 1984) (Marie-Rousselière 1984). The bowdrill, adz and knives were common to all three groups (Balikci 1970) (Damas 1984) (Marie-Rousselière 1984). Furthermore, all groups employed sledges for overland travel and kayaks for aquatic travel. Both kayaks and sledges were made of varying material, though skins were integral to both. The Iglulik employed sea kayaks that were significantly larger than the other groups. Stone lamps filled with oil were used for indoor cooking during the winter, while outdoor summer cooking was fueled by animal bones covered in oil (Marie-Rousselière 1984). Skins were used for clothing, shelter and a variety of other integral tasks. Ice and snow were used in the snowhouses (Balikci 1970).
Photo: (Morrison 1995:37)
Kinship
Though kinship structure in Arctic foragers is certainly full of variation, there are common "themes" among them. One is that "the individual is the center of a small concrete kinship structure which in turn is surrounded by a very extensive contingent structure of potential kinship" (Heinrich 1960). This means that beyond the circle of immediate kin, there is often a large sphere of extended relatives or potential relatives. The value placed on the extended family is most likely an adaptive response to food scarcity and a mobile lifestyle which may require trips to visit "relatives" in order to survive - as is the case with the Netsilik (Balikci 1970). Variation should be emphasized however, as even within a single group there may be variation in both cousin-structure as well as affinial structure (Heinrich 1960).
The Central Inuit - Iglulik, Netsilik, and Copper Inuit - are best known for the distinct differences between social structures. For instance, in Igluik societies, affines are not equated with consanguines, but it does possess three-cousin terminology in its kinship reckoning. It is in Netsilik society that one finds the extended ilagit and the restricted ilagit. It is beyond the extended ilagit that mates are sought, for it is in the extended group that relatives were recognized by the Netsilik, mostly consanguines, whereas the restricted ilagit is the essential family-household group. The Copper Inuit are known for not placing special significance on women while they are in menses or just gave birth, termed by Stevenson as "the Antithesis of Central Inuit Social Structure?" (Stevenson 1997). "Central Inuit Distribution" Image from (Stevenson 1997:267).
Groups
Copper Inuit - a Central Inuit group marked by a number of social structure peculiarities in contrast to other Inuit societies, yet a similar material culture.
Iglulingmiut aka Iglulik Eskimo - another Central Inuit group best known for a special emphasis on kayaking and forms of hunting from the water, even terrestrial animals like caribou.
Netsilingmiut aka Netsilik Eskimo - one of the most studied of the Central Inuit groups, noted particularly for their practices of infanticide.
Other Inuit groups - notes on a few other Inuit societies: the Caribou Inuit, the Thule Inuit, and prehistoric Inuit groups.
External Links
Alaskool: an online reference page about Alaskan Natives.
Inuit Tapiriit Kantami: Canada's national Inuit organization.