The Arctic

The Arctic remains one of the least explored, studied and understood places on earth. It id the most northern part of the earth around the North Pole and very cold. In the centre of the arctic is an ocean covered by a thick ice cap and it forms a ring around the Arctic Ocean surrounded by the northern parts of North America, Europe and Asia.This cold region is often called the tundra which covers the northern edge of Siberia, Alaska, Scandinavia, and Canada.

Most of the ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean is sea ice that remains frozen all year. Some sea ice is seasonal. It freezes in winter and melts in summer. Icebergs—large pieces of freshwater ice—also float on the Arctic Ocean.

The Arctic circle is an imaginary line around the Earth that surrounds the Arctic. It marks the start of the area where, for at least one day each year, the sun does not completely set (on June 21) or rise (on December 22).
As the Earth orbits around the Sun, its tilt makes the north pole face towards the Sun in summer (keeping it in sunlight even as the Earth spins) and away from it in winter (keeping it dark). This means that the Sun doesn't shine at all during the winter, but shines continually (yes, even at midnight) during the summer.

The tundra is located at the top of the world, near the North Pole. There are two types of tundra in the world -- arctic and alpine. The arctic tundra is around the North Pole. Alpine tundra is found on the tops of tall, cold mountains.
The most distinctive characteristic of the tundra soil is its permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of ground. During the brief summers, the top section of the soil may thaw out allowing plants and microorganisms to grow and reproduce. However, these plants and microorganisms become dormant during the winter months.

Temperatures during the arctic winter can go as low as -60 F (-51 C). Average temperature of the warmest month is between 50 F (10 C) and 32 F (0 C). Sometimes as few as 55 days per year have a mean temperature higher than 32 F (0 C). The average annual temperature is only 10 to 20F (-12C to -6C).

The Arctic Area

The frozen sea extends south from the North Pole (all directions are south) for at least 800 km (500 miles). Beyond that the sea is only frozen for part of the year. At about that range the first signs of land also appear.

Arctic: Plants and animals. Lichens and mosses, found widely, form a valuable food source - especially reindeer moss. The majority of arctic plants are edible but also some are quite poisionous.

Water hemlock tends to be the most poisonous of them all.As well as the fruit of the baneberry.

AVOID small arctic buttercups.

Best avoid fungi too - make sure you can distinguish lichens from them! There are no arctic plants which are known to produce contact poisoning.

It is hard for plants to grow in the Arctic. Even in the summer it is cold and windy. There are just a few months of sunshine. When the snow melts thousands of different types of flowering plants grow on the tundra. (purple saxifrage, yellow avens, buttercups, arctic poppies, moss campion, campanulas, arctic azaleas )

Other plants that are able to grow are the dwarf willow and arctic willow ( small tundra shrubs).

LICHENS (li-kens) are one type of plant found in the Arctic. A lichen looks like one plant but is made up of two different kinds of plants - algae (al-gee) and fungi (fun-jie) .

There are more than 15,000 different kinds of lichens. Some look like a flaky crust growing on rocks and trees. Some are flat and leafy looking. Some look like little bushy plants amd others hang from the trees.

A strange thing about lichens is - they don't need soil to grow. Some can grow on rocks. Lichens help break down the rock into soil. Then mosses and ferns are able to grow. Later other plants and small trees will also grow.

Many animals depend on lichens for food. In winter caribou on the Arctic tundra would starve without lichens. They munch on reindeer moss ( green lichen that looks like sponges). Small mammals use lichens to line their nests or burrows.

Ice provides no habitat for plants or found animals, even polar bear are likely only to hunt where they can find prey- and they are difficult and dangerous to hunt. Seabirds, fish and seals, where there is water, are the potential foods. Foxes-the arctic fox turns white in winter- sometimes follows polar bears on to sea ice to scavenge their kills. Northern wildlife is migratory and availability depends on season Tundra and forest. Animals in the arctic have adapted to handle cold winters and to breed and raise young quickly in the very short and cool summers.

The Arctic Fox

The Arctic fox has unique adaptations which enables it to survive in the arctic environment. Arctic foxes live in dens where ther pups are born also.The dens excavated by the adults in sandy, well-drained soils of low mounds and river cutbanks and extend from 6 to 12 feet underground. The Mating season is in early March and early April. On average seven pups are born in a litter each newborn arctic fox pups have a short velvety dark brown fur which changes as it matures. Both parents aid in bringing food to the den and in rearing the pups. Pups emerge from the den at about 3 weeks old and begin to hunt and range away from the den at about 3 months.

Fully grown arctic foxes weigh from 6 to 10 pounds and approxiamtely 43 inches (109 cm) in length including the tail. Their short legs and body, short ears, and dense winter fur give them a stocky appearance. Arctic foxes molt twice each year. The white foxes begin to shed their long winter fur in early April. By late June the face, legs, and upper parts of the body are covered with short, brown summer fur. The fur of the lower sides and abdomen is yellowish-white. The change to winter pelage occurs in September and October. By November the luxurious white winter coat is complete. Foxes of the blue phase remain dark or charcoal colored year round but become somewhat lighter in winter.

Food Source

Arctic foxes feed primarily on small mammals, including lemmings and tundra voles during the summer. If their dens are near near rocky cliffs along the seacoast they may feed on nesting seabirds such as auklets, puffins, and murres. Arctic foxes are omnivorous. They sometimes eat berries, eggs, and scavenged remains of other animals.

During winter many foxes venture out onto the sea ice to eat the remains of seals killed by polar bears and as a result they may move long distances over sea ice.They are also hunted by humans for their pelts their demand has diminished in recent years, however in coastal Native villages trading of the pelts is still common.

Caribou
Caribou are large, wild, elk-like animals which can be found above the tree-line in arctic North America and Greenland. Because they can live on lichens in the winter they are very well adapted for the harsh arctic tundra where they migrate great distances each year. Caribou cows and bulls both grow distinctive antlers and bull antlers can reach 4 feet in width! A Caribou calf can run within 90 minutes of its birth. It must do this to keep up with the migrating herds.

The caribou has unique hairs which trap air providing them with excellent insulation. These hairs also help keep them buoyant in the water. They are very strong swimmers and can move across wide rushing rivers and even the frozen ice of the Arctic Ocean!

Both sexes has antlers which are fully developed in the autumn. The male, locally known as "sarv" shed theirs in December/January. The females, locally knowns as "vaja" remain the antlers during the winter and shed thiers in the spring around May. The antlers of the female are smaller than the males. The calf keep its antlers for the first winter.

Muskox

Muskox are large animals that look a lot like bison, but have wool like sheep. Their long brown wool hangs almost to their feet. Most of the arctic tundra was host to the musk ox long ago. Neolithic hunters hunted them almost to extinction. Today they can be found in northern Canada roaming wild, and on farms in Unalakleet, Alaska where they are raised for wool.

Muskox roam wild in herds of 10-20 individuals. When they are threatened by a wolf their main predator (other than man) they will form a circle around their young to protect them. Muskox have been known to scoop up wolves with their horns, hurl them into the air and then stomp them under hoof. Although this may seem violent, muskox are mainly peaceful animals who eat only plants. Their name comes from the musky smell of their urine which is especially strong in mating season. Muskox usually bear one calf every two years.

Beluga Whale

Beluga or "white whales" are not born white. They are grey at birth and get lighter and lighter until at about age six they are completely white. Belugas are one of the three whales that spend all their lives in arctic waters. The other two are the bowhead and the narwhal. Beluga are special among all whales because they can turn their heads. Maybe this is so that they can communicate with each other better! Beluga are very social and make a wide variety of sounds. A group of beluga can be loud! They have been nick-named "sea canaries." Beluga use sound to help them find their prey. They send out a sound which bounces off things in the water and allows them to hear how far away something is. This is called "echolocation." Beluga will work together using this and other techniques to herd fish into shallow water. It has also been reported by native people that beluga whales help each other give birth! They use many subtle forms of communication including a wide variety of facial expressions. Unlike some other whales, beluga have good vision.What they don't have is a dorsal fin, earning them the name "delphinapterus" or dolphin-without-a-wing.

Polar Bears

Polar bears are the largest land carnivore.The largest polar bear ever recorded was a male weighing 1,002 kg (2,209 lb.) and measuring 3.7 m (12 ft.) long. Polar bears live year round near arctic waters hunting seal and other animals, rarely coming on land except on islands and rocky points. In winter they hunt along the Arctic shelfs looking for tasty seals, fish, and even humans!

Physical Adaptations

Fur
| The coat can vary from pure white to creamy yellow to light brown depending upon season and angle of light. Their white coats provide camouflage in the ice and snow which make them almost invisible as they stalk their prey. he hind limbs are longer than the forelimbs. Polar bears are completely furred except for the nose and footpads, which are black.

Its dense, woolly, coat is about 2.5 to 5 cm (1.2 in.) thick and acts as an insulating layer. Polar bear fur is oily and water repellent. Polar bears are strong swimmers and can stay submerged for two minutes at a time. Their fur is made of hollow hairs which trap air and help to insulate them in the frigid waters. The hairs don't mat or stick when wet, allowing the polar bears to easily shake free of water and any ice that may form after swimming. Ice forms when the wet fur is exposed to air temperatures at or below freezing. The hairs of the fur reflect light, giving a polar bear its white coloration. Polar bears completely shed and replace their fur annually, in May or June. Although their coat is white apolar bear's skin is black.

Paws and Feet
This makes the large, muscular hind end stand higher than the shoulders. The large paws of a polar bear act like snowshoes, spreading out the bear's weight as it moves over ice.Its nonretractable claws are used for grasping prey and for traction when running or climbing on ice.

In winter, when they are far from land they search for breathing holes made by seals. When the seal comes up for air, the polar bear will kill it and flip it out of the water with a single blow of its great clawed paw. The sole of a polar bear's foot has thick, black pads covered with small, soft papillae (dermal bumps). The papillae create friction between the foot and ice to prevent slippage. Long hairs growing between pads and toes also help prevent slippage.

Teeth
Polar bears have 42 teeth, which they use for catching food and for aggressive behavior. Their incisors are used to shear off pieces of blubber and flesh and thier canine teeth grasp prey and tear tough hides. Polar bears often swallow most food in large chunks rather than chewing.

In November polar bears retire to dens dug out of the snow or permafrost. The females remain until the spring when they emerge with one or two cubs who stay with them for the next year and a half. The males spend a shorter time in the dens and may be seen out and about at any time of the year.

Swimming Strength.

Polar bears are strong swimmers; they swim across bays or wide leads without hesitation. They can swim for several hours at a time over long distances. They've been seen swimming continuously for 100 km and can obtain a maximum swimming speed of 10 kph.

A polar bear's front paws propel them through the water dog-paddle style. The hind feet and legs are held flat and are used as rudders. A thick layer of blubber (fat), up to 11 cm (4.3 in.) thick, keeps the polar bear warm while swimming in cold water.

Diving.

Polar bears make shallow dives when stalking prey, navigating ice floes, or searching for kelp. Polar bears usually swim under water at depths of only about 3 to 4.5 m (9.8-14.8 ft.). They can remain submerged for as long as two minutes. No one knows how deep a polar bear can dive. One researcher estimates that polar bears dive no deeper than 6 m (20 ft.).

Regulation of Body Temperature

Body temperature, which is normally 37C, is maintained through a thick layer of fur, a tough hide, and an insulating layer of blubber. This excellent insulation keeps a polar bear warm even when air temperatures drop as low as -37C

Diet and Eating Habits.

Polar bears feed mainly on ringed seals and bearded seals. Depending upon their location, they also eat harp and hooded seals and scavenge on carcasses of beluga whales, walruses, narwhals, and bowhead whales. On occasion, polar bears kill young walruses and beluga whales. A polar bear's stomach can hold an estimated 15% to 20% of its body weight. Polar bears need an average of 2 kg (4.4 lb.) of fat per day to survive. A ringed seal weighing 55 kg (121lb) could provide up to eight days of energy for a polar bear.

Hunting

Usually stalks on land. The polar bear remains motionless beside a breathing hole or lead edge waiting for a seal to surface. When a seal surfaces, the polar bear bites onto the head or upper body, then flips the entire seal onto the ice.Sometimes they still hunting which usually takes less than one hour, but polar bears will wait much longer. Stalking is a hunting method used in summer when seals haul out on sea ice. Once spotted, the seal is slowly and steadily stalked by the polar bear. At 15 to 30 m (49.98 ft.) away, the polar bear suddenly charges the seal. With its claws or teeth, the polar bear grabs the seal before the seal can leave the ice.

The aquatic stalk is a method also used in summer when seals haul out on sea ice. The polar bear swims toward a hauled-out seal. Once the polar bear reaches the ice edge, the bear quickly emerges from the water and grabs the seal with its claws or teeth.

Stalking ringed seals at their birth lairs is a hunting method polar bears use in spring, when ringed seals give birth to their pups. Ringed seal birth lairs are caves built under snow drifts next to a hole in the ice. The snow drifts are on stable sea ice attached to land. Once a polar bear identifies a birth lair, it slowly and quietly positions itself next to the lair. If a polar bear smells or hears a seal in the lair, it slowly raises up on its hind legs and crashes down with its front paws to break through the lair roof. To break the roof's hard surface, several tries are sometimes needed, which may allow the seal to escape into the water. This method is most commonly used by polar bear females with cubs under one year old.

Once a seal is captured, a polar bear bites it several times on the head and neck before dragging it several meters from the water to feed. The skin and fat are eaten first, followed by the meat. Polar bears often stop to wash during feeding, using water nearby or rubbing in the snow. Polar bears don't always eat the entire kill. Carcass remains are scavenged by other bears, arctic foxes, and gulls.

Life Span Causes of Death.

Polar bears can live 20 to 30 years, but only a small proportion of polar bears live past 15 to 18 years.

The oldest known polar bear in the Arctic lived 32 years. The oldest known polar bear in a zoological park lived 41 years. Males occasionally kill other males competing for mates. Males periodically kill females protecting cubs. Cubs less than one year old sometimes are prey to adult male polar bears and other carnivores, such as wolves.

As prey

Polar bears have been hunted for thousands of years. Evidence of human polar bear hunts have been found in 2,500- to 3,000-year-old ruins. Arctic peoples have traditionally hunted polar bears for food, clothing, bedding, and religious purposes. Commercial hunting of polar bears for hides began as early as the 1500s and flourished by the 1700s. Kills increased substantially in the 1950s and 1960s when hunters began using snowmobiles, boats, and airplanes to hunt polar bears.This led to an international agreement in 1973 banning the use of aircraft or large motorized boats for polar bear hunts. Hunting is the greatest single cause of polar bear mortality.

Today, polar bears are hunted by native Arctic populations primarily for food, clothing, handicrafts, and sale of skins. Polar bears are also killed in defense of people or property.

Sea Otters

Sea Otters are playful animals that spend almost all their time in the sea. They eat, sleep, and even have their babies in the water. In the daytime sea otters float on their backs eating Abalone, their favorite food. To open the Abalone shell they place a small rock on their chest and smash the shell against it. Sea otters are one of the few mammals, beside humans, that use tools. They will use strands of kelp to tie themselves into the kelp beds for a secure night's sleep. They love to frolic with other otters and seals. Unlike seals and walrus, sea otters have no blubber to keep them warm in the cold arctic waters. Air trapped in their fur keeps them warm and bouyant. Oil spills can damage this fine fur and cause the otter to get very cold and die. That is why volunteers cleaned the sea otters so carefully after the oil spills in Alaska.

Sea otters also faced great dangers from hunters who wanted their valuable coats. They were hunted so heavily in the 18-19th Centuries that they had to be placed on the U.S. government endangered species list. Now the populations have come back to a large extent, but conservationists would like to continue to protect them. Fishermen would like them off the endangered species list in order to protect the abalone harvest.

Siwimming & Diving

Seals swim in Arctic waters eating fish like arctic cod as well as crustaceans and mollusks. Their rear flippers are turned backward. This improves their swimming, but makes it difficult to move around on land because their toes point backwards. Try walking around with your toes pointing backwards! Instead they prefer sliding around on the ice.

One species, the ringed seal, spends most of its time beneath the ice. It digs up through the ice with its strong claws to open breathing holes and must keep pushing it nose through the ice to keep the holes from icing over. This is easier than making new holes, but if they aren't careful a polar bear will see their hole and catch them.

Seals are great divers and can stay under water for long periods of time without returning to the surface for a breath. Mature seals mate in the spring. Calves are born in the spring of the following year, and stay with their mothers for a few weeks until they are able to catch prey for themselves. Besides, their soft baby fur is not warm enough to be alone, and they must wait until their white fur has changed to a darker thicker pelt better suited for arctic waters.

Seals were over hunted by humans for many years, but now many seal species are protected and can only be caught by native people in the Arctic.

Seals swim in Arctic waters eating fish like arctic cod as well as crustaceans and mollusks. Their rear flippers are turned backward. This improves their swimming, but makes it difficult to move around on land because their toes point backwards. Try walking around with your toes pointing backwards! Instead they prefer sliding around on the ice.

One species, the ringed seal, spends most of its time beneath the ice. It digs up through the ice with its strong claws to open breathing holes and must keep pushing it nose through the ice to keep the holes from icing over. This is easier than making new holes, but if they aren't careful a polar bear will see their hole and catch them.

Seals are great divers and can stay under water for long periods of time without returning to the surface for a breath. Mature seals mate in the spring. Calves are born in the spring of the following year, and stay with their mothers for a few weeks until they are able to catch prey for themselves. Besides, their soft baby fur is not warm enough to be alone, and they must wait until their white fur has changed to a darker thicker pelt better suited for arctic waters.

Seals were over hunted by humans for many years, but now many seal species are protected and can only be caught by native people in the Arctic.

Walrus

Everyone knows what a walrus looks like! Its long ivory tusks are used for many things, including protection from attack by polar bears, killer whales and local hunters in kayaks.

Walrus are very slow on land because they are so big and clumsy, but in the water they are very fast and strong. They can dive down 300 feet to retrieve their favorite food, clams, from the sea bottom. A walrus can eat 4,000 clams in one feeding!

Air sacs in the walrus' neck allow it to sleep with its head held up in the water. Nursing females use this standing position as they nurse. The pups, born approximately every two years, nurse upside down.

Walrus will dive into the water at the faintest scent of a human. Walrus numbers were very reduced by commercial hunters until 1972 when the Marine Mammal Act started protecting them. Now only native people in the Arctic may hunt them and the populations have grown in size. Native peoples in the Arctic hunt the walrus for food and put every part of its body to good use. They use the tusks for the delicate art of carving called "scrimshaw."

Orcas/ Killer Whales

When they dive, killer whales usually go to depths of about 30.5 to 61 m (100 - 200 ft.). Killer whales generally do not dive deep, although the deepest dive known under experimental conditions was 274.3 m (900 ft.).

When diving, killer whales may surface about every four to five minutes. At the surface they generally take two to five breaths at five to ten second intervals before another dive. They make approximately three to five short dives, each lasting 10 to 35 seconds. These are followed by longer dives lasting about one to four minutes. Dives up to 10 minutes and longer have been seen, with the longest dive observed in the ocean lasting 12 minutes. Under experimental conditions, killer whales have made dives lasting as long as 15 minutes.

These adaptations enable a killer whale to conserve oxygen while under water. Killer whales, like other marine mammals, have a slower heart rate while diving. A killer whale's heart rate can slow from 60 beats to 30 beats per minute while diving.

Reindeer

Reindeer are slightly smaller and were domesticated in northern Eurasia about 2000 years ago. Today, they are herded by many Arctic peoples in Europe and Asia including the Sami in Scandinavia and the Nenets, Chukchi and others in Russia. These peoples depend on the reindeer for almost everything in their economy including food, clothing and shelter. Some Nenets even keep reindeer for pets! Reindeer were introduced into Alaska and Canada last century, but most attempts failed. Native peoples in these countries still prefer to hunt caribou rather than herd reindeer.

An iceberg is a mass of ice that has broken off part of a glacier called calcen and has fallen into a nearby body of water. Most icebergs are found in the ocean, but are all composed with fresh water, not frozen sea water, since a glacier is frozen snow.

Icebergs are white, blue, or green and sometimes even black due to rock materials that were first in the glacier and ended in the sea because of the iceberg. The largest iceberg is in the Antarctica. It is like a table top. It has an area of 12,000 square miles It is 208 miles long and 60 miles wide. The wind and the waves of the ocean may bring icebergs far away from where they first started the journey. As time passes, icebergs decrease in size because when an iceberg is exposed to heat, like, all other ice, it melts.

Icebergs can last at least 10 years, but with the green house effect it melts a lot faster. Most of an iceberg is hidden beneath waves. At least seven eighths of it is hidden. This is because the glacier ice is slightly lighter then the equal amount of sea water. This makes it very dangerous for boats, because they can not see the whole berg so they might go into a part that can not be seen above water. As an iceberg melts an even smaller part can be seen above water, which makes it even more dangerous.

Ninety-three percent of the world's mass of icebergs is found surrounding the Antarctic. Antarctic icebergs are characterized by their tremendous size and tabular shape. Lengths up to five miles are not unusal, with ice 45 metres above water. Most Antarctic icebergs are formed from the Antarctic continental ice sheet as it thins toward the coast and exudes into the ocean as a great ice shelf with fronts hundreds of miles long.

How are icebergs formed?

An iceberg isn't even sea water. It is a chunk of glacier that has cracked off the bottom part of the glacier that is called calcen. The glacier probably got quite warm so it cracked, forming an iceberg. Now that the earth temperature is rising many more icebergs are forming, But melting too, due to the fact that, like all ice, as soon as the temperature is over 0 degrees the iceberg will melt. Since the heat is coming from above the top of the iceberg will melt first, which is a great danger to ships because then they can only see a little of the iceberg, but it might be huge under the water and they are so big that is difficult for a ship to turn around before hitting the berg.

How does an iceberg move?

Icebergs are first broken off a glacier then they float around in the water.

Ice Floes: In winter, seawater freezes and forms a crust of ice called "pack ice". When the ice melts in the spring it breaks up into floes and floats away. Like icebergs, these are dangerous to ships

Ocean currents, wind, and storms at sea, and the ripples at the sea tends to move them. Sometimes icecaps that are on the ocean slows down the icebergs because it blocks the path of the iceberg. Fishermen that make a living from these animals have a tough time too. They have to call the ice breakers to come and break the ice for them. Why aren't icebergs mapped so the fishermen can plan a route around them? An iceberg moves quickly, so it would be difficult to mark them in the exact right place. However, fishermen do know more or less, where the iceberg is.

The Inuit

Background to Present

The Inuit are the direct descendants of the Thule people a prehistoric hunting society that spread across Canada from Alaska and centered on capturing massive bowhead whales. who migrated to Labrador from the Canadian arctic 700 to 800 years ago. Today their habitation area extends over four countries: the United States, Canada, the USSR, and Greenland. Of the more than 90,000 Eskimo in this region, the greater part live south of the Arctic Circle, with approximately 28,000 on the Aleutian Islands and in Alaska; 17,000 in Canada; 1,500 in Siberia; and 45,000 in Greenland.

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador today is home to four peoples of Aboriginal ancestry: the Inuit, the Innu, the Micmac and the Metis.

The Inuit live mainly within the Arctic Circle where winters are long, dark and very cold. They live in small villages along the tundra coast of the bering Sea and Arctic Ocean, and were mainly sea hunters and used harpoons to kill seals, walruses and whales. Inuit means (the Yupik variant is Yuit), which means the "real people." but more familar as Eskimos. The Inuit like to be called Inuit not Eskimos as the word Eskimo means 'eaters of raw flesh' a term used by the Algonquin Indians of eastern Canada for these hardy neighbors who wore animal-skin clothing and were adept hunters. The language is divided into two major dialectical groups, the Inupik speakers (Greenland to western Alaska) and the Yupik speakers (southwestern Alaska and Siberia).

Traditional way of Life

The ability of the Eskimo to adapt successfully to a cold and harsh environment depended on a highly inventive material culture and particular values and psychological traits. An essential ingredient in this was the Eskimo's skill in making tools and other useful devices from all kinds of materials. Clothing sewn from skins, the toggle harpoon fashioned from ivory or antler and fitted with stone blades, sled runners made, in emergencies, from frozen strips of meat, and the well-known igloo, or snow house, are examples of indigenous cultural adaptations developed from available natural materials. Broad cultural values stressed the importance and excitement of hunting and the need to appease the souls of animals killed in the hunt. Courage and hardihood were emphasized in the training of young Eskimo, as was a strong sense of fatalism in facing the disappointments and frustrations of life, such as the death of loved ones.

The traditional method of hunting seals during winter through the frozen ocean ice was most typical of the Eskimo of north central Canada. Since seals are mammals and must breathe, they scratch a number of holes through the ice as it begins to freeze and periodically return to them for air. After the Eskimo hunter located such a hole, often using his dogs to smell it, he stood with a poised harpoon, awaiting the quivering of a small, slender piece of baleen, or whalebone, stuck through the thin ice surface, which would signal the seals surfacing. Often the hunter had to stand this way for several hours in the bitter cold. When the baleen marker began to jiggle, he threw the harpoon, one of the fastest throwing weapons ever designed. The head of the seal harpoon was constructed so as to embed itself and remain fixed in the fat layer of the stricken animal. The head, connected to a float of inflated sealskin by a line about 10 m (33 ft) long, would not only mark the location of the wounded animal but would also hamper its escape. As soon as the animal swam to the surface to breathe, the hunter would attempt to kill it with a knife or lance.

Housing and Transportation

They had three types of shelter. One type was the sod house, which they used during the winter. Another type was tents, which they used during the summer. These tents were made of seal skin or caribou skin. A third type of housing was the igloo.

Igloos
The Inuit used to build snow houses called igloos (from an Eskimo word meaning "home"). Igloos were used as temporary shelters for about half the year from about October until April. Igloos were used as 'temporary' shelters for hunters on the move. Eskimos used snow knives to cut blocks of the snow about three feet long, 1 1/2 feet wide, and four to six inches thick. A snow knife was a long, straight knife made of bone. They stacked the blocks in circular rows that got smaller as the igloo went upward, and this is how they formed the dome shaped house. They were meant for short term use. An igloo was used for about one month before they would move again to find better hunting grounds. They were made with frozen blocks of snow and were fit together in the shape of a dome. They were about ten feet in diameter.

Sod Houses
Eskimos who built sod houses used the same house for many winters. The sod house had a dirt floor that was sunken into the frozen land about one to two feet deep.
Whalebone, stone, or wood made up the frame of the house which was covered with sod. Most sod houses also had storage rooms. There was also one big platform of dirt that served as the bed for the whole family. Some of these houses were as much as ten feet wide.

The Inuit hunted whales, seals, walrus, fish, musk ox, foxes, birds, squirrels, hares and caribou for food and skins. The skins were used to make tents similar to teepees and clothing. Light sealskins were used to make canoes or kayaks.

Boats
Two kinds of boats were common. The umiak was a large open boat consisting of a wooden frame covered usually with walrus hide; it was used both to transport people and goods and, especially in northern Alaska, to hunt whales. The other type of craft distinctive of the Eskimo and their cultural relatives, the ALEUTS, was the kayak. This one-man hunting vessel was entirely decked over with sealskin or caribou skin. The hunter sat in a cockpit inside, dressed in tight-fitting waterproof clothing made from seal or walrus intestine. The kayak glided silently through the water and enabled the hunter to move very close to his prey.

Dogsleds
Inuit also trained dogs to pull sledges called komatiks. These days they travel on sledges with motors called skidoos. In recent years, snowmobiles have largely replaced the dogsled as the Eskimo's primary mode of transportation in many areas. Everywhere the Eskimo depended on the DOGSLED as a mode of winter transportation over both land and the frozen sea. The sled was drawn by 2 to 14 huskies and was usually made from wood; where wood was unavailable (as in certain regions of central Canada), dried salmon was sometimes used as structural material for sleds.

In summer meat and fish were dried and stored as winter foods. Summers are short so they worked hard to get everything ready for winter again.

Traditionally, nearly all parts of animals killed by the Eskimo were used. Eskimo clothing was made from skins of birds and animals (seal, caribou, and polar bear). Sewn with sinew thread and bone needles, hooded jackets, pants, and waterproof boots were well adapted to cold and wet climatic conditions. Skins were also processed into tents and boats, and bones were made into weapons.Today the modern dress to combat the fierce cold weather ,special clothing is worn to keep warm.These include:

• Undergarments: tee-shirt, underwear and light socks
• Long johns
• Turtleneck shirt
• Sweatshirt
• Pants with stirrups
• Ski jumpsuit (waterproof)
• Thermal socks (waterproof)
• Leather mittens (fur on the inside)
• Muffler/scarf knitted of wool (waterproof)
• Parka with fur lining around the face (waterproof)
• Mukluks (waterproof boots) made of animal skin lined with fur

Religion and Art

Eskimo religion was animistic. It imputed spirits, or souls, to most animals and to important features of the landscape. Human beings had several souls, or spiritual substances, one of which was the name. After death it was believed that the name and the personality of its bearer would enter the body of a newborn infant given the same name.

To avoid their hostility, souls of the important subsistence animals-- seals, walrus, whales, and polar bears--were propitiated through extensive honorary customs and taboos. For example, one of the most widespread customs was for the hunter's wife to offer a dead seal a drink of water as a sign of hospitality when her husband brought the carcass to the entryway of the house. In some areas, especially western Alaska, complex annual ceremonies of thanksgiving were performed in honor of the souls of seals and whales.

The central religious figure was the SHAMAN (angakok in some of the central Canadian languages). His functions were comprehensive: to divine the causes of poor hunting, which often was believed to be brought on by a group member breaking food or hunting taboos; to diagnose and treat sickness; and to serve as the general source of advice in coping with crisis. Most groups believed in a supreme ruler of the sea animals and in a vague deification of the forces of nature.

Arts and crafts were expressed mainly in etched decorations on ivory harpoon heads, needlecases, and other tools; in carved sculpture in ivory, tooth, or soapstone; in skin sewing; in dancing and the composition of songs; and in storytelling. Elaborate wooden masks were also made by the Alaskan Eskimo.

Inuit Words

Iditarod

Called the Last Great Race on Earth, the is the world's most famous sled dog race. Running more than 1,000 miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, the trail draws racers each year from several continents.
History: During the gold rush era, the Iditarod trail was a supply route to mining camps, trading posts and remote bush areas. Mushers carried out most of the $30 million dollars in gold mined in the interior of Alaska. The trail became a lifeline in 1925 when a diphtheria epidemic hit Nome. Twenty mushers and their doges rushed through sub-zero conditions to deliver serum that saved many lives in isolated Nome.

The Race Today: Now, the race is an international event. Finishers come from countries all over the world including, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Japan, Austria, Australia, Sweden and the Soviet Union in addition to mushers from 20 different states.