Consider the very specialized culture needed to survive living in the Arctic.
Could you live under such conditions?
Read the text below to write a paper on the above question. two full written pages, typed and double spaced
This youtube viedo can help too if needed.
Nanook of the North (1922) – YouTube
The Arctic can be defined as a large area around the North Pole. It includes the Arctic Ocean, many islands and parts of the mainlands of North America, Asia and Europe. The Arctic is also defined as the region north of the tree line, the point beyond which trees do not grow. The largest Arctic land areas are in Canada, Russia, Greenland, Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska, Svaibard and other islands. Several regions such as most of Greenland are permanently ice covered. Extensive coastal plains are among much of northern Siberia. The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by land with many breaks. Mountain ranges are in the eastern Arctic region of Canada, in Yukon territory, in northern Alaska in coastal Greenland, in Iceland and in northeastern Siberia.
Precipitation is low in the Arctic thus large river and lake systems are rare. In many places permafrost restricts the downward drainage of melt-water from snow and the water accumulates on the surface as shallow lakes, ponds and marshes.
Winter in the Arctic is long and cold and summer is short and cool. The Arctic circle marks the border of a zone in which the sun never rises during at least one day in winter and never sets at least one day in summer. Between the Arctic circle and the north Pole there will be several months of daylight at night in summer and several months of dark during the day in winter. Northeastern Siberia holds the record low temperature of -90 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Arctic is not a frozen desert devoid of life on land or sea even in wintertime. Spring brings a resurgence of plant and animal life. Some animals including birds and insects adapt well to Arctic conditions. Arctic mammals include polar bear, arctic fox, ermine, marten, arctic wolf, wolverine, walrus, seal, caribou, reindeer, musk-ox, lemming, arctic hare and many species of whale. The Arctic has more than 400 species of flowering plants. The vast stretches of tundra consists of shrubs, grasses, lichens, mosses, herbs and sages. The coastal waters are rich in cod, halibut, salmon and trout.
About 20 national groups exist today in the Arctic areas of Russia. Some of them are the Komi, Yakut, Tungus, Yukaghir and Chukchi. In North America three main ethnic groups are the Aleut, Yuit and Inuit. The Innuit of Greenland which is a province of Denmark has about 50.000 people who still follow the traditional way of life.
Eskimo is an American Indian word which translates to “eaters of raw flesh.” People we call Eskimos originally came from Asia across the Bering Land Bridge between Siberia and Alaska. They eventually spread across the arctic regions of the continent coming to live in four countries, Russia, the United States ( Alaska ), Canada and Greenland. The people do not use the term Eskimo. When speaking of themselves they use a term which to them means “the people .” In Canada they are Inuit, in Alaska they are Inupiat and Yupik and Yuit in Siberia. The people live in some of the world’s coldest areas where survival was a constant battle with the climate. The waters provide much of their food. Seals were an important food source. Salmon, cod, walrus and even whales for some were important. They hunted polar bears, foxes, hares and caribou. In summer they went inland to hunt the migrating caribou.
They lived in tents of caribou and seal skin. They built sod houses in winter. The igloo served as a temporary shelter when traveling or hunting. Clothing was a matter of survival. The women made the clothing out of Caribou, sealskin, arctic fox and hare.
Everyone wore a hooded jacket, trousers, socks, boots and mittens. In winter two sets of clothing were worn. The inner layer had the fur against the skin and the second layer had the fur on the outside. Body heat was held in while perspiration could evaporate.
The people usually lived in groups of several families. The nuclear family consisted of husband, wife (there might be two), babies and children and maybe one or two elderly relatives. Spouse exchange sometimes occurred. If a man went on a hunting trip and his brother stayed behind to be with his wife and children, the brother could share the man’s wife if all agreed. If a man visited another village and was a stranger he would be viewed with suspicion. But if he could find a family who would allow him to share the man’s wife then he would become an exchange husband and a relative and no longer a stranger. Any children born would belong to the husband. This exchange was not taken lightly. Sometimes when times were especially dire an older relative would have to be left behind when a family had to move on to find food or otherwise starve to death. Infanticide was rarely but sometimes necessary.
The man’s job was to hunt food, drive the dog sled, row the boat and build shelters. A wife’s most important role was to make the family’s clothing. She cooked, looked after the children. Both husband and wife helped one another when necessary and treated one another as equals. Disagreements were often settled by “ song duels “ whereby each disputant would sing insults at one another until a resolution could be reached. The people believed that spirits controlled the wind, weather, sun, waters and the moon.
A most important spirit was the sea goddess Sedna. There are different versions of the Sedna myth. Here is one version. Sedna was a human girl. She married a sea bird. When her father found out he went after her in an open boat called a umiak. When the sea bird returned home and found his wife gone he raised a storm at sea. Sedna’s father in order to save himself threw Sedna overboard. As she clung to the sides of the boat her father cut off the first joints of her fingers then the second joints and finally the third joints. Sedna sunk to the bottom of the sea where she became the sea goddess. From the first joints of her fingers came the whales, from the second joints came the seals and from the third joints came the walruses. As the people commit sins they settle in the bottom of the sea in Sedna’s hair. When her hair becomes particularly dirty she withholds the sea mammals from the people. The Shaman then has people confess their sins so that Sedna will again release the animals to the people. The people believed that both people and animals had souls. A community would have a shaman to heal the sick and communicate with the spirits to increase the supply of game and improve community relations.
Today the people live much differently. They live in towns, in houses and wear modern clothing. They can purchase food in stores and they use motorboats and snowmobiles. They are more likely to kill a seal with a rifle than a harpoon. Many have become Christian.
Nanook of the North is a silent film made 1922 by an explorer named Robert Flaherty. This is probably the first documentary ever made. He wanted to portray the essence of life for the Inuit and their unrelenting struggle to secure food and shelter. Flaherty clearly conveys the hardships and dangers they face. You will see the family consisting of Nanook the hunter, Nyla and Cunayou his wives and Lee and Allegoo his children.