The Inuit migrate

June 12, 2017

Migration, Joe Talirunili. Canadian Museum of History, IV-B-1644 a-mm, S2001-3022

1200

Ancestral Inuit moved into the central and eastern Arctic from their homeland along the northwest coast of Alaska. They had a rich and complex culture that focused on the harvesting of bowhead whales, the largest animals in Arctic waters. The Inuit rapidly spread eastward as far as Greenland, displacing the earlier Tuniit (or Palaeoeskimo) people. Over time, the Inuit abandoned many regions of the High Arctic as climates grew colder, and their focus shifted to smaller game, such as caribou and seals.

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