Some facts about the Inuits

Life-style: The Inuits live as a hunter and collector in igloos, which they build from ice-blocks . Their name means "person" in English . They were as the first people approx 8000 years ago in Alaska. Since today her life style has changed only a little. They live without electricity and win her drinking water by heat up of the snow. They kill approx. 60 whales in the year, because they need the whale blubber and the whale skin. Inuits use all parts of whale. If a whale is caught, everything help to pull him from the water. Then a big party will meet family with young and old. It is an old tradition. These are more than 4100 people who speak the language Inupiaq. This language passes them of syllables each other are hung. From them there originate words with different meaning. The houses of the Inuit are called Igloos. It exist two arts of building: the spiral construction and the massive construction. First, you had to find a good place for the Igloo and then you had to make a circle with a rope. Then you had to cut out ice-blocks. When the Inuit are on a hunting trip, they build the Igloos with the spiral construction, because it’s easier and quicker.

 Information about Alaska:In our winter in Alaska it’s dark. In this time they sit in the house and do something. Only to the hunting they have to go after outdoors. Alaska was bought from the USA. Russia sold it. That was 1867 und it costs 7,2Million US-$.Then Alaska was the 49th state of the USA. In Alaska there were many Gold expressions and many oil wells. That’s why the USA bought Alaska.

Animals:

The Caribou (North American pensioner's kind) travel in groups and movement a long way from the south of Alaska about in the northwest of the rack McKinley to the northern parts of the park in winter in. Caribou can be seen by the park street.

 Moose, the biggest members of the deer family, are not herd animals. The young is born in May and will stay one or two years with the mother. In the spring the mother and her young eat plants.

Grizzly bear eats plants, small animals, and young, old or sick moose, sheep and caribou. They are seen everywhere in the park. Mothers normally have two young, sometimes one or three. They are very dangerous if they protect their young.

 Wolves are not often seen, but they play an important role in the nature. They hold the nature healthy because they weak, old and very young animals catch. No fours can thereby spread out. In winter they go hunting in herds, but they can be seen also alone. If you have seen a wolf, you are a very happy person.

Huskies, the faithful dogs of the Inuit, could be 51-60 cm big and weighs 16-28 kg. They could be 11-13 years old, normal dogs in Germany live longer. They are not so big as normal sled dogs. They bark not often, so they are popular in Germany too. But the Huskies need a lot of running and live in packs. They have thick fur, in the colors grey, black, white and brown. They help the Inuit to survive and they pulled their sleds. It’s used for transport of persons and stuff.

In addition, there're seals , whales, snowy foxes, snowy rabbits, and different birds like sea eagle.

Food:
The Inuits ate seal, birds, polar bear, walrus, shark, whales, fish, Musk oxen, foxes, geese, ducks, caribous, wolves, bears and little animal. The children ate delicacy, like fish eyes and a piece of liver. The Inuits have to caught her food. During the hunting many Inuits died, because it was very dangerous to catch animal. The food is very important for the Inuits, especially for the children. The whale brought food for month for all people of the people and would be seen like a real banquet. A seal was ate quickly. When they didn’t find anything to eat , they ate the huskies. The delicates whale hide was known as “maktak”. They would be healthy so they eat seals. Sometimes they eat it today, too. At weddings they stuff a seal with 300-400 birds, witch haven’t got feathers. Then they wait some days and eat it then.
The serviettes are from bird skin with feathers or a piece of animal coat.
Übersetzung des Textes ins Deutsche

Written by : Laura Ehrenbrink and Johanna Kampe, 8F3