People of the Far North PDF

People of the Far North People of the Far North This text is adapted from an original work of the Core Knowle...

People of the Far North People of the Far North This text is adapted from an original work of the Core Knowledge Foundation. The Inuit moved from place to place while hunting. The Coming of the Inuit People Think about a frozen world. It is so far north that for six months of the year, there are very long periods of light. Then, for the other half of the year, there are very long periods of darkness. During the winter, it is very dark and cold. Moonlight gleams on the ice. The northern lights shimmer and arc across the sky. Stars twinkle, and their positions change as spring approaches. During the Arctic summer, the sun does not appear to set. It does, however, dip close to the horizon, where the sky seems to meet the land. Even so, there are only about one hundred days when it is warm enough for water not to turn to ice. The warm season is too short to grow crops. But berry bushes and small flowers blossom. ReadWorks.org This article is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge® Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses this work. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/  People of the Far North This northern land has been called a "frozen desert." It is a hard place to live in. And yet it has long been home to an ancient group of people. The ancestors of these Arctic people came to North America about 2,500 years ago. Unlike Native Americans, they are not directly related to the hunter-gatherers who lived in the land bridge that connected Asia and North America during the Ice Age. These hunter-gatheres lived at least fifteen thousand years ago. In Canada, the ancestors of the Arctic people are known as the Inuit (/in*yoo*it/). The word Inuit means the people. When the Inuit first came to North America, they got almost everything they needed by hunting and fishing. They gathered plants during the short summer. Since there are no trees in the Arctic, the Inuit used driftwood. They collected the wood that floated on the sea or down rivers to make certain things they needed. They also made fishhooks, knives, and other small tools from bones and flint. The Inuit built igloos as shelters when they moved from place to place while hunting. About two thousand years ago, other peoples in northern Asia taught the Inuit how to make and use bows and arrows. The Inuit used these new weapons to hunt seals, caribou, and polar bears. Soon, knowledge of bows and arrows spread from the Inuit to other Native American people. Living in the Arctic A thousand years ago, the Arctic climate was a little warmer than it is today. Whales migrated ReadWorks.org This article is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge® Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses this work. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/  People of the Far North along the Arctic Ocean coast. Some Inuit groups followed the whales east. They traveled from Alaska to northern Canada and all the way to Greenland. They set up villages. This meant they could stay in one place for more than a single season. On the sea, they traveled swiftly and safely in kayaks. Kayaks were canoes made out of animal hide stretched over a frame. The frames were made from driftwood or animal bone. On land and on the thick ice, the Inuit carried heavy loads on sleds. These sleds were pulled by a person wearing a harness or by a team of dogs. The Inuit became skilled hunters of whales and walruses. They used special tools such as harpoons tipped with bone, stone, and later iron. The climate got colder again five hundred years ago. It got too cold for whales to swim along the Arctic coast. The Inuit in Arctic Canada and Greenland could no longer live in one place all year. During the year they moved from place to place to find enough food to eat. They broke into small groups. They hunted smaller animals, such as seals. Some traded with Europeans, who were beginning to explore the Arctic. The Inuit used dog sleds to carry heavy loads. The Inuit lived in small groups and hunted a variety of animals. ReadWorks.org This article is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge® Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses this work. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/  People of the Far North A Year in the Life of the Inuit During the winter, the Inuit crossed the ice to hunt caribou and seal. Some Inuit used blocks of snow to build shelters or homes called igloos (/ig*loos/). Families could live in an igloo. These frozen structures were sometimes connected by halls and tunnels. Families gathered to share stories, songs, and celebrations. In the spring, the Inuit often traveled to inland rivers to fish for trout. As the ice melted, they could travel on the sea by kayak. Then, during the summer, tents made of animal hides replaced the igloos. The Inuit set up their camps on dry, high ground. Strong winds kept insects away. They used plants and berries growing on the treeless land of the Arctic for food, fuel, and medicine. Some traveled far from the coast in summer, hunting herds of caribou. In the fall, the Inuit returned to the coast to hunt seals, walruses, and whales. They built shelters near the coast. These shelters were made of rock-lined pits covered with earth. Families burned oil made from whale or seal fat for light and heat. They also used the oil for cooking. Each season brought about changes to how the Inuit lived. ReadWorks.org This article is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge® Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses this work. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/  People of the Far North Throughout the year, Inuit families stored as much food as they could. Today, many Inuit live in communities that are more like other present-day communities. They travel by snowmobile instead of dogsled. Their kayaks are made of a light material called fiberglass instead of animal skins. They wear nylon parkas. But they also follow many of their ancient traditions. They understand the ties to the land, the sea, and the animals that helped them survive for thousands of years. ReadWorks.org This article is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge® Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses this work. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/