The Inuit (ᐃᓄᐃᑦ in the Inuktitut language, the word means men/humankind; singular inuk or inuq) are the Indigenous people living in the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Siberia.

They descend from the ancient Central Asian populations who migrated throughout the Arctic and sub-arctic areas, about thirty thousand years ago, reaching Greenland to the East, the current Quebec to the north, and Labrador.

Culture

The Inuit are traditionally fishers and hunters. They usually hunt whales, walrus, caribou, seal, polar bears, muskoxen, birds, and fish.

During fishing, they use kayaks, or “when the sea is ice covered, they hunt seals through the aglu also called breathing holes that the animals take care to keep open” (from Terre lontane, missioni, spedizioni, studi e ricerche di Silvio Zavatti, a cura di Luigi Martellini, Ed. SetteCittà, 2017).

During hunting, they build igloos that are provisional refuges in case of emergency.

On the snow, they use dogsleds to travel, even if now they move also by motor vehicles (snowmobiles).

Their culture is well-established in the territory. For thousands years they have observed the climate and the environmental changes to take advantage of the earth resources: clothes made of animal skins, animal tendons used as ropes, ivory or horn harpoons, stone blades, and, if necessary, sled runners made with strips of frozen meats.

Language

The Inuit language is rich in declensions and conjugations. There are only three vowels. The Inuit use only the present tense since the conjugation of verbs in the past does not exist (there is not even the infinity). Each name can become a verb, and vice versa. The male and female genders do not exist. The first name is of great importance for Inuit. The name is the life spirit, since it is given because of a new life. The name is the friend soul, since a new born receives the name of a dead person. In fact, Inuit have the belief that the soul of a dead person reincarnates in a new born. The name serves to distinguish a man from the other. The names don’t have kind (from Terre Lontane, missioni, spedizioni, studi e ricerche di Silvio Zavatti, by Luigi Martellini, 2017).

Government

Silvio Zavatti was an enthusiastic supporter of Inuit civil rights. Thanks also to Zavatti civic commitment and struggles at the United Nations, Inuit have obtained self-determination in the choices concerning their existence and territory.

To safeguard their culture and environment, Inuit established the Inuit Circumpolar Council, ICC, a multinational and non-governmental organization that actively works internationally for the recognition of indigenous peoples' rights and the protection of their natural environment.

Society

The Inuit believe in equality and cooperation between villages. Inuit society has no hierarchies and its foundation is freedom of choice, provided always that there is respect between group members.

Cult

Inuit believe in animism by which many animals and natural phenomena have a soul or a spirit living the same feelings of humans. “Hence the profound respect for animals and the lesson to everyone to not hurt them unnecessarily and to hunt them only for need” (from Terre lontane, missioni, spedizioni, studi e ricerche di Silvio Zavatti, a cura di Luigi Martellini, Ed. SetteCittà, 2017).

The main religious figure is the shaman, often female. During ceremonies, the drum (krida) sound can put the shaman into a trance, getting in contact with the great beyond. Songs accompanying dances, are orally composed by Inuit: generally, the man composes songs, while the woman sings them.

Tupilak are distinctive anthropomorphic and zoomorphic ritual sculptures, built by shamans. They represented the union of the hunter spirit with that of the prey. Tupilak are used to ward off evil spirits (how a Tupilak works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaI-nEN2DRE).

Art

Inuit are always skilled carvers. By using the very limited natural resources (stone, bone, ivory and rare wood pieces carried by oceans) Inuit have been able to make all the essential tools to their needs: harpoons, bows and arrows, knives, needles, pipes and lamps.

Among the visual arts Inuit show a particular preference for drawing and painting. These are mostly reserved to women. Women are admirable packers of clothing and footwear obtaining them from seal and caribou skins. They also like to decorate their suites with several motifs and pictures made with brightly coloured glass beads (from Terre lontane, missioni, spedizioni, studi e ricerche di Silvio Zavatti, a cura di Luigi Martellini, Ed. SetteCittà, 2017).

Actually, Inuit art, carving, printmaking, textiles and throat singing, are very popular, not only in Canada but also globally, and Inuit artists are widely known.

In Room V, a traditional dress of the nomad population Nenets (collegamento alla pagina Nency in inglese, vedi sotto) living in the Yamal Peninsula (Russia), is also showed.