History Copper_Inuit

1 history

1.1 millennia
1.2 post-euro-canadian contact

1.2.1 20th century


1.3 settlement

history
early millennia

copper inuit descendants of thule culture. changes in local environment may have resulted in transition prehistoric thule culture copper inuit culture, modern people.

for approximately 3 millennia copper inuit hunter-gatherer nomads. settlement , acculturation of european-canadian ways has occurred since 1940s, , have continued hunting , gathering lifestyle.

they lived in communal snowhouses during winter , engaged in breathing-hole (mauliqtoq) seal hunting. in summer, spread out in smaller, family groups inland caribou hunting , fishing.

the people made copper arrows, spear heads, ulu blades, chisels, harpoons, , knives both personal use , trade amongst other inuit. in addition copper products, copper inuit soapstone products highly regarded in bering strait trade network. other trade partners included inuvialuit avvaq , caribou inuit south. many copper inuit gathered in cambridge bay area in summertime because of plentiful game.

post-euro-canadian contact

according robin mcgrath there inuit stories show there history of conflict between inuit , dene, others may have involved europeans. conflict seems have been instigated both dene , inuit , possibly caused trade disputes due raids women. 1 of better known of these battles recorded european explorer, samuel hearne. in 1771, samuel hearne first european explore coppermine river region. here hearne s chipewyan dene companions massacred copper inuit group @ bloody falls. further exploration did not take place until period of 1820–1853, included sir john franklin expeditions of 1821 , 1825. john rae encountered copper inuit @ rae river in 1847, , @ cape flinders , stromness bay in 1851. during mcclure arctic expedition, irish explorer, robert mcclure abandoned ship, hms investigator, @ mercy bay on banks island in 1853 during search franklin s lost expedition. provided extensive amounts of wood, copper, , iron copper inuit used years. richard collinson explored area in 1850–1855.

20th century

ikpukhuak , wife, c.1913-1916

believing copper inuit had migrated hudson bay trading @ various outposts, canadian government s 1906 map marked victoria island uninhabited . not until years of 20th century trading ships returned copper inuit territory. followed vilhjalmur stefansson s discovery , report of so-called blond eskimos amongst copper inuit arctic exploration trip of 1908–1912. during canadian arctic expedition of 1913–1918, canadian ethnographer diamond jenness spent 2 years living , documenting lives of copper inuit. sent thousands of artifacts of material culture geological survey of canada.

along trade, european contact brought influenza , typhoid. these newly introduced infectious diseases weakened resistance of natives. between 1929 , 1931, 1 in 5 copper inuit died tuberculosis epidemic. around same time, whaling industry deteriorated. alaskan inupiat , mackenzie delta inuvialuit came coronation gulf area co-exist copper inuit. first holman-area (ulukhaktok) trading post established in 1923 @ alaervik, on north shore of prince albert sound, closed 5 years later. post relocated fort collinson on walker bay, north of minto inlet. 2 other stores opened in walker bay closed 1939, in years of great depression.

settlement

in 1960, federal government shipped 3 housing units holman, , 4 in 1961. in years follow, families moved holman permanently, while others lived there seasonally. copper inuit moved communities of coppermine (kugluktuk) or cambridge bay. still others gravitated outposts along bathurst inlet, contwoyto lake, coronation gulf, , on victoria island.

the copper inuit have gradually adopted snowmobiles, satellite dish television service, , christian churches. many young people speak english rather inuinnaqtun. together, these introductions have created social change among copper inuit.