Caribou Inuit - Ethnography

Ethnography

Caribou Inuit were nomadic and summers were time of relocation to reach different game and to trade. In addition to hunting, they fished in local lakes and rivers (kuuk). Caribou Inuit northern bands from as far away as Dubawnt River travelled on trading trips to Churchill via Thlewiaza River for extra supplies. The nomadic nature made the people and their dogs into strong walkers and sledders who carried loads of implements, bedding, and tents. Kayaks portaged people and baggage in rivers and lakes.

Kayaks were also used for hunting at water crossings during annual migration. Wounded animals were tied together, brought ashore, and killed there to avoid the struggle of dragging dead animals. Every part of the caribou was important. The antlers were used for tools, such as the ulu ("knife") and goggles to prevent snow blindness. The hides were used for footwear and clothing, including the anorak and amauti, using caribou sinew to piece the articles together, and worn in many layers. Mittens were lined with fur, down, and moss. While spring-gathered caribou skins were thin, sleek, and handsome, summer-gathered caribou skins were stronger and warmer. Hides were used also for tents, tools, and containers.

Caribou Inuit lived within a patrilocal social unit. The male elder, the ihumataq ("group leader"), was the centralized authority. There was no other form of authority within subgroups or within the Caribou Inuit in general. Like other Inuit, Caribou Inuit practiced an animist religion, including beliefs that everything had a soul or energy with a disposition or personality. The protector was Pinga, a female figure, the object of taboos, who brings the dead to Adlivun. The supreme force was Hila ("air"), a male figure and the source of misfortune. Christian missionaries established posts in the Barren Lands between 1910 and 1930, converting (siqqitiq) most Inuit from animists to Christians, though some, nonetheless, maintain remnants of their traditional shamanistic beliefs.

Caribou Inuit are Inuktitut speakers. Inuktitut has six dialects, of which Caribou Inuit speak the Kivalliq dialect, and that is further divided into the subdialects, Ahiarmiut, Hauniqturmiut, Paallirmiut, and Qairnirmiut. The Utkuhiksalingmiut's dialect, Utkuhiksalingmiutut, is similar to but distinct from their neighbors' Nattilingmiutut. Like other central Canadian Arctic people, Caribou Inuit participated in nipaquhiit ("games done with sounds or with noises"). The Caribou Inuit genre lacked typical katajjaq ("throat sounds") but added narration missing amongst other Inuit groups.