Inuit Culture

I have learned so much about Inuit culture since arriving in Nunavut in August, and I am grateful to my Inuit friends and colleagues for sharing their culture with me daily.  The Inuit people have a long and fascinating history, and their inventiveness and resilience is inspiring.  Their arts and crafts are outstanding, and some of the handiwork I have seen for sale is incredible: beautiful handmade parkas, sealskin kamiks (boots), jewelry, toques, quilts, in addition to carvings and prints.  Many communities have a sewing centre where sewers congregate to sew and share ideas and skills. The Inuit also have an incredible history of oral legends and myths, many with fantastical creatures, including shape shifters!  Google Inuit legends or mythology to find out more, if this interests you. There are also a number of books of legends available through book stores.

                                                                                  (image: http://www.inuitmyths.com/ijirait.htm)

The qulliq is the traditional Inuit oil lamp/stove.  It was used to keep tents and igloos warm, and for cooking bannock and other items.  The fuel is whale or seal blubber and the wicks are specific types of moss or other plants.

I have had the opportunity to try a variety of "country food" as the food of the land is called.  The traditional Inuit diet has been identified as one of the healthiest in the world, and it contains all of the vitamins and nutrients required to maintain a healthy body.  For southerners, it is hard to imagine a land of permafrost located above the tree-line where vegetation is limited to low,  ground-hugging plants and flowers that grow only in the short summer season.  Naturally, this means that ones primary food source here must come from the sea: fish (arctic char is wonderful), seals, beluga, whales, walrus, seaweed, and other seafood.  Because there is no source of wood for fires, food from the land is often eaten raw or frozen.

Muktuk (beluga) Inuit sushi!

Walrus Stew

Hand made nasak (hat)