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Alternative Titles: Innuit, Inuit
Eskimo, any member of a group of peoples who, with the closely related Aleuts, constitute the chief element in the indigenous population of the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Canada, the United States, and far eastern Russia (Siberia). Early 21st-century population estimates indicated more than 135,000 individuals of Eskimo descent, with some 85,000 living in North America, 50,000 in Greenland, and the remainder in Siberia.
Inuits on a traditional sled after a hunt, Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada.
© Ansgar Walk
Arctic: Seasonally migratory peoples: the northern Yupiit and the Inuit
The seasonally organized economy of these peoples derived from that of their Thule ancestors and focused on the exploitation of both sea...
The self-designations of Eskimo peoples vary with their languages and dialects. They include such names as Inuit, Inupiat, Yupik, and Alutiit, each of which is a regional variant meaning "the people" or "the real people." The name Eskimo, which has been applied to Arctic peoples by Europeans and others since the 16th century, originated with the Innu (Montagnais), a group of Algonquian speakers; once erroneously thought to mean "eaters of raw flesh," the name is now believed to make reference to snowshoes.
Despite that finding, the name Eskimo—widely used in Alaska—is nevertheless considered by some to be offensive. In Canada and Greenland the name Inuit is preferred for all indigenous peoples there. However, the indigenous peoples of Alaska include the Yupik and the Aleuts, both of whom are distinct from the Inuit. Other proposed names for the inhabitants of Alaska present different problems; Alaska Natives, for example, includes Athabaskan and other unrelated Native Americans.
One of the oldest known Eskimo archaeological sites was found on Saglek Bay, Labrador, and dates to approximately 3,800 years ago. Another was found on Umnak Island in the Aleutians, for which an age of approximately 3,000 years was recorded.
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Eskimo people are culturally and biologically distinguishable from neighbouring indigenous groups including American Indians and the Sami of northern Europe. Studies comparing Eskimo-Aleut languages to other indigenous North American languages indicate that the former arose separately from the latter. Physiologically, an appreciable percentage of Eskimo people have the B blood type (ABO system), which seems to be absent from other indigenous American groups. Because blood type is a very stable hereditary trait, it is believed that at least a part of the Eskimo population is of a different origin from other indigenous American peoples.
Culturally, traditional Eskimo life was totally adapted to an extremely cold, snow- and icebound environment in which vegetable foods were almost nonexistent, trees were scarce, and caribou, seal, walrus, and whale meat, whale blubber, and fish were the major food sources. Eskimo people used harpoons to kill seals, which they hunted either on the ice or from kayaks, skin-covered, one-person canoes. Whales were hunted by using larger boats called umiaks.
Young Alaskan Eskimo (Inuit)
Young Alaskan Eskimo (Inuit) wearing a caribou skin parka.
Caroline Penn—Impact Photos/Imagestate
traditional semisubterranean dwelling of the North American Arctic and subarctic peoples
Cross section of a traditional semisubterranean dwelling of the North American Arctic and subarctic peoples.
© Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; adapted using information from The Field Museum, Chicago
Eskimo family
Eskimo (Inuit) family from Alaska wearing fur parkas, early 19th century.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsc-02276)
In the summer most Eskimo families hunted caribou and other land animals with bows and arrows. Dogsleds were the basic means of transport on land. Eskimo clothing was fashioned of caribou furs, which provided protection against the extreme cold. Most Eskimo wintered in either snow-block houses called igloos or semisubterranean houses built of stone or sod over wooden or whalebone frameworks. In summer many Eskimo lived in animal-skin tents. Their basic social and economic unit was the nuclear family, and their religion was animistic.
An Eskimo preparing to throw a harpoon from his sealskin kayak while hunting in the Bering Sea, as photographed by Edward S. Curtis in 1929.
Edward S. Curtis Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (cph 3a16196)
A photograph from the early 20th century shows an Eskimo ice fishing in Nome, Alaska.
Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection—Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsc-02385)
igloo building
Eskimos constructing an igloo with blocks of snow.
Frank E. Kleinschmidt/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62-135985)
Eskimo life has changed greatly because of increased contact with societies to the south. Snowmobiles have generally replaced dogs for land transport, and rifles have replaced harpoons for hunting purposes. Outboard motors, store-bought clothing, and numerous other manufactured items have entered the culture, and money, unknown in the traditional Eskimo economy, has become a necessity. Many Eskimo have abandoned nomadic hunting and now live in northern towns and cities, often working in mines and oil fields. Others, particularly in Canada, have formed cooperatives to market their handicrafts, fish catches, and tourism ventures. The creation of Nunavut, a new Canadian territory, in 1999 helped to support a revitalization of traditional indigenous culture in North America.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Jeff Wallenfeldt, Manager, Geography and History.
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Thule culture
Ipiutak culture
Inugsuk culture
Kachemak culture
Paleo-Siberian
Mackenzie Eskimo
Baffinland Eskimo
Angakok