Central Inuit

Central Inuit are the Inuit of Northern Canada, their designation determined by geography and their tradition of snowhouses ("igloos"), fur clothing, and sled dogs. They are differentiated from Alaska's Iñupiat, Greenland's Kalaallit,[1] and Russian Inuit.[2] Central Inuit are subdivided into smaller groupings which include the Caribou, Netsilik, Iglulik, and Baffinland Inuit.[3][4] Though Copper Inuit are geographically located in the central Arctic, they are considered to be socially and ideologically distinct from the Central Inuit.[5]

The Central Inuit conception of the world's structure has gender qualities. Women are connected to the sea, sea mammals, sea tools, and winter. Men are connected with the land, land animals, land tools, and summer. Gender concept also affects burials.[6] They do not commonly create images of supernatural powers, preferring instead to make amulets using pieces of things including animals.[7]

Central Inuit lived in multiple types of dwellings. In addition to igloos, they also lived in qarmaqs.[8]

  1. ^ Waldman, Carl (September 2006). Encyclopedia of Native American tribes. Infobase Publishing. pp. 115–. ISBN 978-0-8160-6274-4. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  2. ^ Shadian, Jessica; University of Delaware (2006). Reconceptualizing sovereignty through indigenous autonomy: A case study of Arctic governance and the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. pp. 57–. ISBN 978-0-542-81197-5. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  3. ^ Cummins, B.D. (2004). Faces of the North: the ethnographic photography of John Honigmann. Toronto: Natural Heritage/Natural History. p. 149. ISBN 1-896219-79-9. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  4. ^ Issenman, B. (1997). Sinews of survival: the living legacy of Inuit clothing (pdf). Vancouver: UBC Press. p. 136. ISBN 0-7748-0596-X. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  5. ^ Fossett, Renée (2001). In Order to Live Untroubled: Inuit of the Central Arctic, 1550-1940. University of Manitoba Press. pp. 17–. ISBN 978-0-88755-171-0. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  6. ^ Ruggles, Clive L. N. (2005). Ancient astronomy: an encyclopedia of cosmologies and myth. ABC-CLIO. pp. 193–. ISBN 978-1-85109-477-6. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  7. ^ Auger, Emily Elisabeth (2005). The way of Inuit art: aesthetics and history in and beyond the Arctic. McFarland. pp. 54–. ISBN 978-0-7864-1888-6. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  8. ^ Stern, Pamela R. (2004). Historical dictionary of the Inuit. Scarecrow Press. pp. 129–. ISBN 978-0-8108-5058-3. Retrieved 28 August 2011.