Iglulik Inuit (North America)
Environment
The Iglulik Inuit are a tribe of people located in Canadian Northwest Territories, specifically in territories such as parts of northern Baffin Island, Melville Peninsula, and northern Southampton Island.
The climate and weather is colder given it is in the Arctic. Nine months averaging below 0 degrees Celsius. On average, they have about 29 rainy days a year, which is about 8 inches of rain on average. The average for the year is 53.6 inches of snow. They have about 60 snowy days. Given they live on an island, the weather can change. It is relatively humid but very rarely with heat. The highest temperature was 24.5 degrees Celsius. They don’t get much sun exposure, but they still feel the effects of ultraviolet radiation.
The population is a smaller size. There are about 1500 people that live in these territories with about 95% of them being Inuit. They are situated on an island being a rural area. They are isolated on the island with no competition for resources, however due to the climate, if food becomes scarce, it can threaten everyone who lives with them. However, in recent years, they have store bought food that is imported from Canada.
There is a lot of vegetation and plants due to the plant stratification which allows the seeds which allows plants to grow in spring rather than in the harsh climates. With the rain as well, it allows for good drainage to further benefit the plants. The plants tend to be a brownish-green color. The plants don’t last super long but they are large due to the terrain. The foggy weather along the coast makes the plants matted. There are fungi and algae found along rocky cliffs. While many of the Inuits rely on food from the ocean in the form of sea life, there are other species in their environment. Many of the animals that live in this environment are arctic species, such as arctic foxes, bears, arctic wolves, and more. There are also smaller mammals that have high reproduction rates, such as lemmings. They also rely on the sea life that are whales, seals, walruses and more for food.
The environmental stresses have to do with the extreme climate. In recent years, it has changed but before, a concern would be lack of food due to cold weather. Much of the food would be dependent on food that can be harvested for long periods of time such as seals, walruses, etc. As well as another concern would be the conditions that this climate creates. They have blinding snowstorms and whiteouts during winter and the rain, while it mostly occurs in summer, can sometimes be heavy rain.
Adaptations
Language
Gender Roles
The gender identities that are traditionally recognized in this culture are male, female, and non-binary. With these genders, there are also traditional roles each gender plays. Men typically hunt and make tools while women sew, cook and other vital tasks. However, this has changed in recent times with women taking on equal responsibility and having wage jobs like in our western culture. While each gender may have specific roles, these roles aren't strict. They were allowed to learn the roles of each gender despite what their assigned responsibilities are. Children are also taught these roles at a young age from the elders and parents.
Biologically, based on men’s physique, they had men doing the “harder” and physical labor while the women did indoor and more vital roles. However, despite biology, they still allowed women to learn and do the same roles as men.
The protagonist of “The Blessed Curse” would be accepted into my culture since even traditionally, non-binary people have been accepted and intersex does fall under that umbrella of sex/gender identity.
Subsistence
The traditional subsistence pattern is hunting for food in different seasons such hunting mammal sea life in summer, fish in spring, mammals on land in winter and mammal sea life in spring. However, in recent years, this pattern may change due to climate change and that they get imports to help with food security. The main food in my culture’s diet is whale, walrus, and seal. Some of these aren’t available year-round due to the ice freezing over during winter, making it harder for the Inuit to hunt mammals like whales and fish during that time.
The division of labor is mostly based on gender, however both genders can participate in all labor and within the modern age, often do. In the modern age, women work wage jobs to support their families, meaning that now the division of labor isn't about gender as much.
Their bodies are made to process the intake of fatty acids than other human beings meaning that their Nutritional intake is good for the way their body processes food, however they could be eating more fruits and vegetables based on western standards. The culture isn’t dependent on rare food but it can be more difficult to find food in the colder months.
Economic Systems
My culture doesn’t have a surplus due to food insecurity, especially in the winter months. During the winter months, food is more scarce since they can't finish and have to hunt for land animals.
Their specialization of labor would be hunting and clothing making. The culture only practices redistribution when helping others of their own culture would be sharing foods and resources amongst others in the community.
Since they are in Canadian territory and work with Canada’s government, they use the Canadian currency in modern times which would be the Candian dollar. Traditionally, they would trade metals, food, furs, soapstone and more but in modern times, they no longer engage in this type of trade but instead with currency. The benefits of trade is helping other community members but the downside is the lack of resources to trade and inflation in some cases, especially with Canada’s economy.
Marriage
In the culture, it is mostly monogamous, but polyamory still does happen, just rarer. They do not practice cousin marriage, however in some cases, they would have arranged marriages. It would happen depending on the community and what is needed but in modern times, this practice has mostly been extinct.
It could be considered an exchange back then but there isn’t an exchange for marriage anymore. This says that back then, they were mostly equal but still men were seen as superior to women but in modern age, they are seen as equals and have equal responsibilities in the relationship.
Due to the isolation and the fact that they are an island, traditionally they are endogamous. There are no rules about marriage with outsiders, but this tradition could have changed with opening to the western world and modern technology advancements.
The residence pattern in their culture is ambilocal because of the size of the community, they all remain together or at least near each other.
The attitude towards homosexual relationships is that they are accepted traditionally but with the modernization of western culture and Christianity, it is based on each individual's acceptance and tolerance.
Kinship
My culture follows a bilateral descent pattern. This means that my culture feels like unity and community are more important than gender roles. The people who possess the most power are the “ga” and “tsu” which are the grandmother and grandfather. In their culture, the elders hold the most power.
The inheritance pattern follows the descent pattern because it depends on each side of the family.
The naming pattern between different kinships is the most like the Eskimo kinship naming pattern because it is the same one the Iglulik Inuit use.
Social Organization
Political Organization
Role of Violence
Two ways violence is presented in culture are hunting and skinning animals, by western standards. This can be considered as violent, but it has a positive effect on the culture because it is a way of life for them which can teach self-efficiency, teamwork, and other good quality traits. Within the culture itself, it is viewed positively because it is their survival skills.
Religion
Art
Cultural Change
Bibliography
Environment section
Adaptions
Language Section
Gender Roles Section
Subsistence Section
Economic System Section
Marriage section
- https://www.ipl.org/essay/Arranged-Marriages-In-Inuit-Culture-PJN57N9U8AB
- https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/ae.1975.2.3.02a00030
- https://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/1991/2/91.02.07.x.html
- https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/unique-documentary-explores-sexuality-inuit-culture
Kinship section
Social Organization section
Political Structure Section
Religion section
Art Section
PICTURE:
I'm not going into depth on my review here. It is clear you did a lot of work on this assignment so I am primarily going to review for missing topics. I will note anything missing below with deductions indicated.
ReplyDeleteEnvironment (15/15)
Adaptations (9/10) - Overall, good. Note that physical adaptations don't require genetic change if they involve facultative traits. These traits allow bodies to change through development in response to environmental stresses. I would have liked more detail on the specifics of the genetic traits you were referring to. A more common trait discussed is body shape as per the Bergmann and Allen's rules.
Language (10/10)
Gender (15/15)
Subsistence (12/12)
Economy (12/13) - Let's talk about the "surplus" issue. When someone in the village has a successful hunt of a large animal, the food is distributed and then they DO usually have "surplus". This is actually really important for times when food is harder to find and this population will dry the excess meat and store it for later use. They can also use it for trade for items they can't produce themselves.
Marriage (13/13)
Kinship (11/12) - " my culture feels like unity and community are more important than gender roles"
I'm not sure I understand the point you are making here? Bilateral descent patterns are common in societies where populations are smaller and generally isolated. They can't afford to prioritize one "line" in the family over the other.
Social (10/10)
Political (9/10) - Can women be leaders? Or just men?
Violence (4/5) - This isn't really "violence". This is hunting. :-) This tends to not be a warring population but dependent upon cooperation between people for survival. There has been a disturbing rise of domestic violence but that is linked not to cultural adaptation but to cultural *change* (which increases stress and conflict in society) and the availability of alcohol. I understand that this was a difficult topic to cover for the Inuit but it needed to be more fully explored.
Religion (11/13) - The focus here was meant to be on the traditional forms of religion, not the Western influence. Do the Inuit have an origin story? Your reference to their switch to Christianity is tied with the question of "can they do without their belief system". In the conversion to Christianity, they have lost their traditional faith, at least in part. Have there been any negative impacts as a result?
Art (11/12) - "used to touch on experiences and activities." That describes the drum dance but doesn't really touch on it's function. What benefit does this practice hold for the Inuit?
Change (13/13) - Good, but is Canada a "culture"? Or is it a geographical country?
Formatting (11/12) - The light background on some sections made this very difficult to read and detracted from your post.
Your selection of the iglulik was a tremendous project to work on. I can clearly see the level of detail and effort that you put into it, and I commend you for doing so. You spoke about the environment, the climate, the weather, the population, the vegetation and the environmental stresses.
ReplyDeleteWhen speaking about adaptations, you talked about how the culture has undergone the ability to handle extreme claimants, as well as their diet and clusters of genes to regulate heat.
What you spoke about the language you talked about how it was passed down through generations, more specifically from the elders.
You spoke about gender, roles, male, female, and nonbinary spoke about how men typically hunted, and women cooked and another vital task.
You then spoke about the substance for your culture. The pattern is hunting for food, sea life and summer fish in spring mammals on land during the wintertime.
He spoke about other cultures, and they do not have a surplus of food to do the insecurities as well. Since they’re in Canadian territory, they use the Canadian dollar.
I have read the rest of your writing. I could tell you put in the same level of effort as the ones that I have mentioned above. You listed a tremendous number of resources and once again, it has been a great pleasure reading your research and overall, you did a very excellent job. I do not believe there are any areas that are not completed, and you did do everything that was required within this assignment.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI have not ever heard of the igulik before so I really appreciate the detail and emphasis you have added in your project. It is a great help for those who might of heard of such for the first time. You added much detail when you were discussing climate, weather, and the adaptions these people had overall. It is quite amazing how depending on where you are born or where you reside can affect you will you can adapt tho the physical environment. For one I am easily cold and easily hot. Miraculously, I am both allergic to very cold or very hot weather, so I usually have to stay covered in both scenarios to avoid hives and such. Being said that I am born and raised and a hot climate with humidity, you would think my body would adapt to temperatures. It is interesting to know how these people have evolved into Christianity, it is quite a well known religion and considered one of the “holy” religions. I personally would not call their hunting as a violent act because this is a basic skill and necessity we need as humans. I do not understand why the wester civilization may see it in such a way, however this is normal and part of life, part of our biology. Really nice to know they are located in Canada, I would love to visit Canada, but I hope they don’t not end their civilization because of the way they are living currently since there is change