Arctic/Sub-Arctic Native Americans

By: Zachary Marine, JD Moore, and Kiara Kilgo

Names of the Tribes

The tribes are: Inuit Eskimo Athapascans Algonquians

Clothing

Clothes mostly made of animal skin and fur Fur from caribou, dog, squirrel, marmot, fox,

wolf, polar bear, bird skin, feathers, and sealskin.

Environment

Arctic- Cold and unforgiving with long winters.

Sub-Arctic- Cold climate with mountains, plains, and deciduous forests. Soil is poor and swampy. Winters are harsh, people and animals used the forest for cover and snow for shelter.

Adaptations

To adapt to their environment the Arctic/Sub-Arctic Native Americans used fur and skin off of the animals they hunt which are suited for the environment for clothes and to cover their homes. They used snow to build igloos. They used the forests as cover and the snow as shelter.

Beliefs/Religion

Belive in animism- all living and non-living things have a spirit (people, animals, inanimate objects, and forces of nature). The only people powerful enough to control the spirits were powerful religious leaders called shamans who used charms and dances to communicate with the spirits.

Housing

Arctic- Summer- Tents made of a driftwood or pole frame and covered with walrus, seal, or caribou skin.

Winter- Huts or houses made of stone with a driftwood or whale bone frame, chinked and covered with moss and sod, or they may live in igloos.

Sub-Arctic- Tipis, double lean-tos, lean-tos, wigwams, and pit houses are used as shelters.

Food

People in the Arctic/Sub-Arctic hunt, fish, and gather wild plants. They eat fish eggs, seafood, moose, caribou,hare, muskoxen, bear, elk, waterfowl, and bison . They also eat tripe, dandelions, moss, marigold, and berries.

Transportation

Kayak- A light seaworthy canoe like hunting boat was a wood frame covered with sealskin except for a round center opening where the single occupant sits. In Greenland and Alaska the skin around the hole can be laced tightly around the occupant, making the kayak watertight.

Umiak- A larger boat 9 meters long and 2.4 meters wide made of a wooden frame covered with walrus skins, used for whaling expeditions and transport families and goods.

Dogsled- A sled drawn by native dogs for the purpose of driving iron runners largely supplanted ivory and whalebone runners.

www.firstpeoplesofcanada.com

www.american-indians.net

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