Essay On Netsilik

Many of the Netsilik still live in Arctic north of Hudson Bay, now known as Kitikmeot. They lived in villages of domed igloos or small houses that contained between 50 -100 people. Two close nuclear families would generally occupy one of the houses. The average house was between “9 and 15 feet in diameter” (What When How, 2011) These igloos were very useful when they were traveling because they required very few tools to make and sheltered them well from the cold outside. They would change how they constructed these houses as the seasons would pass as to adapt to the changing weather. Houses of ice in the fall, a combination of show and animal skins in the spring; they were snow houses with a roof of usually caribou skin. In the summer, they
would create sealskin tents that would be held down with large stones. Now they have stationary villages with stores and stable housing. They have technology like radios and television in their houses (What When How, 2011) and are in contact with the other Inuit tribes around Canada.
The Netsilik live off the land hunting animals in all seasons.
Because of the long winters they do not grow produce but have a diet that primarily comprised of meats and grain that they have bought or traded. The majority of the animals that they hunted were seals however they also hunted caribou, polar bear, and musk ox. Early on they would hunt in parties with harpoons. A tradition and trade that had been passed down from generation to generation. The animal that was killed during the hunt was shared with the whole village. Now, hunting has become a more solo operation with firearms and more something done to only provide for the nuclear family. “This made hunting much easier, and the traditional migration patterns of the Netsilik began to change.”(Briggs, J. L. 2006)They no longer needed to go out and hunt in large groups and migrate to follow the animals that they need to survive. Because of the other Inuit tribes that share the area, There has been a drastic change in their hunting patterns in the past 10 years due to “caribou stock has been seriously overhunted” and it has affected their economy. However, this has also increased trade with said Inuit tribes over the years.

Briggs, J. L. (2006, July 02). Netsilingmiut. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/netsilik-inuit/

Sezen, U. (2015, August 14). A Glimpse of Human Ecology Through the Nomadic Life of Netsilik Inuit – Quentin Brown & Asen Balıkçı (1967). Retrieved November 06, 2017, from
http://naturedocumentaries.org/365/netsilik-inuit/

What When How. (2011). Netsilik (Native Americans of the Arctic). Retrieved November 06, 2017, from http://what-when-how.com/native-americans/netsilik-native-americans-of-the-arctic/

Young, R. M. (Director). (1970). The Eskimo: fight for life. [Video file]. Education Development Center. Retrieved November 5, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OODnFvYXqYM