Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Inuit Tribe



My group and I will be working on the tribe called the "Inuits". The word Inuit means "man" or "person". Also another name for the Inuits are called the "Eskimos". The people in my group are Johnathan, Logan, Luzellis, and I.










The Inuit Tribe is a Native American group that lived in cold-climate areas. They lived in the Canadian Arctic and Alaska. Inuits who lived in Alaska were called, "Inupiat". The Inuit spoke their own language called Inuktitut, but the Inuits in Alaska had their own language as well. There language was called Inupiaq.

The Inuits had a lot of art and crafts skills. They built their own homes made out of ice bricks. Their homes were called igloos. Inuits' art was mostly carved figures in soapstone, ivory, and rough surfaced whalebone. The Inuit also carved and painted wooden masks for themselves which were used during rituals.

In the Inuit life, the men were mostly fisherman and hunters. The women would stay home and take care of the children. They would also clean their homes, sewed clothing, and cook, just like a house-wife. At the same time, while the men would go out to hunt, they would stay at a camp site and were suppose to know how to cook and sewed clothing themselves.

Inuits believed a lot in mythology. They believed all living things had a spirt, just like humans. Sometimes, they believed the spirits were controled by other supernatural spirits. During long winters, Inuits would say they saw ghosts and wierd creatures. Also, the Inuits told stories by oral tradition.

The Inuit still exist today, and are better than ever. Although the Inuit life has changed a lot over the past century, Inuit traditions still are the same today. Also storytelling, dancing, and mythology still exists as well. To this day, their family and community is very important to them. Also, the Inuktitut language is still around, but mostly used in television and radio programs.

After doing this project, I felt the Inuit tribe was a very interesting tribe. They played fun games such as throat singing. I also liked the place where the Inuits lived becuase I love cold weather. Also, what I thought was very interesting, was how they made igloos. Someday, I would like to make an igloo by myself during the winter to see how it would come out.

Inuit Throat Singing


Throat singing is a musical performance by the Inuits. It was a game made by the Inuit women. When the men went hunting, and the women had spare time, they would throat sing. It was more like a game. The way you would play is you have two singers. One singer would make rhythm pattherns and take breaks. During those breaks the other singer would make her own rhytm patters so it sounds like a song. The first person to luagh or left breathless would be the loser. In my opinion that game sounds fun!