Group 1- The Daily Life of Canadian Inuits: December 2016

Monday, December 5, 2016

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Modern Changes to the People

Shelter was important before the modern age. Inuits would build one big igloo for all spaces. Inuits have several rooms for storage and other uses for today. They can't build basements because of the permafrost. Shelter is so important that an Inuk man can't marry someone if they don't know how to build an igloo.

Clothing has changed by the material they use. They still use traditional clothing but with more modern materials. Inuits still make their own clothing suited to the environment they live in. They also prefer animal skins for hunting purposes. Inuits are fighting for Property rights of their clothing design because none Inuit people are making a profit from them.

Traditional travelling was by kayaks,walking,sleds, and umiaks. The modern day has put technology into the daily lives. Kayaks are now motorized. People use snowmobiles,ATV's,trucks and speedboats now. Cruises come by the coast a lot and transportation of goods are normal done by ship and barges. People still use dog sleds today but it's a lot fewer.

Customs of the people have changed. The majority of the religion values of Inuits are now Christianity. Their languages have changed to French, English and Inuktitut. Names are very important to the culture. When someone passes away the next child who is born will probably take on the deceased's name. People used to go to shamans for help but today shamans stay hidden in fear of the community.

Sources

http://icor.ottawainuitchildrens.com/node/48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-x5QOSqP3E

Vision

The iCross-Cultural Citizen Project’s vision is to create an online cross-cultural space for students, professionals, and youth to learn and exchange cross-culturally sensitive information about contemporary indigenous experiences. From that outsider student’s perspective, we will try to theoretically explore possible collaborative solutions to problems that affect the indigenous populations of our planet. Finally, we hope for the future creation of a space where indigenous youth can share their experiences and their realities with us for real mutual collaboration to take place.

Background Information of Canadian Inuits

Inuit’s are the indigenous (original) people of the land that is now known as Canada. "For 5,000 years, the people and culture known throughout the world as Inuit have occupied the vast territory stretching from the shores of the Chukchi Peninsula of Russia, east across Alaska and Canada, to the southeastern coast of Greenland."(Kanatami 2007: 2) The Inuit’s divide themselves into two groups.

They go about that by looking at language, cultural and environmental factors. The groups are Yupik and Inupiat. These two groups have as many similarities as differences. One way for these two groups to keep in touch and community with each other is to travel to these particular region by using snow dogs and sleds. Due to advancement of technology and mechanics, some use boats and terrain vehicles.

With their location being in arctic territory, some would consider their living environment very harsh and indeed unlivable. To survive they created their own tools to hunt, which was usually left up to the males. Noting, that if there were no male offspring, they would then teach their daughter(s) to hunt.

In regards to religion, beliefs and rituals, the Inuit’s believe (d) that all things living and nonliving had a spirit. Shamans were very vital in the role performing rituals within the community. Today there is the presence of Christianity among the Inuit community.

There isn't much written history about the Inuit’s, like most indigenous people they rely on word of mouth to pass down history from generation to generation. Though they deem the passing of oral history very important they are now looking at archaeology as a way to learn more about their past.

Sources

Kanatami, Intuit Tapiriit. 2004. "5000 Years of Inuit History and Heritage." Retrieved November 15, 2016

https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/5000YearHeritage_0.pdf

Group 1- The Daily Life of Canadian Inuits

Monday, December 5, 2016

The Inuit Way Of Life

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Modern Changes to the People

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