Inuit, IHN yoo iht, are a people who live in and near the Arctic. Their homeland stretches from the northeastern tip of Russia across Alaska and northern Canada to Greenland. Many Inuit live farther north than any other people in the world.
In this article, the word Inuit refers to the people formerly called Eskimos. The term Eskimo comes from a Native American word that may have meant eater of raw meat, netter of snowshoes, or speaker of a foreign language. Many Inuit consider this term insulting. They prefer the name Inuit, which means the people or real people, and comes from a language called Inuit-Inupiaq. The singular of Inuit is Inuk, which means person. Dialects of the Inuit-Inupiaq language are spoken by the Inuit in Canada, Greenland, and northern Alaska.
Another group of Arctic people, the Yuit, are often called Inuit as well. Their culture resembles that of other Inuit, but they speak a different language called Yupik. The Yuit live in western and southern Alaska and in Siberia in Russia.
Inuit culture developed more than 1,000 years ago in what is now the Bering Sea region of Alaska and Siberia. Most Inuit have always lived near the sea, which has provided much of their food. The first Inuit hunted bowhead whales and other mammals. As the Inuit spread eastward, they modified their way of life to suit the Arctic environments they encountered. They caught fish and hunted seals, walruses, and whales. On land, they hunted a type of deer called caribou, musk oxen, polar bears, and many smaller animals. The Inuit used the skins of these animals to make clothes and tents. They crafted tools and weapons from the animals' bones, antlers, horns, and teeth. In summer, they traveled in boats covered with animal skin and, in winter, on sleds pulled by dog teams. Most Inuit lived in tents in the summer and in large sod houses during winter. When traveling in search of game in winter, they built snowhouses as temporary shelters.
The Inuit way of life began to change in the 1800's. At that time, European whalers and traders began arriving in the Arctic in large numbers. The Inuit eventually adopted many aspects of European culture and permanently altered their traditional way of life.
Today, there are more than 100,000 Inuit in Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Most live in towns or small settlements scattered along the Arctic coast. The Inuit retain a considerable knowledge of their ancient culture. Many Inuit still spend much of their time in traditional activities, such as hunting and fishing.
