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Social Studies 5: The Inuit 39 Views
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Description:
Did you know that the term "Eskimo" is offensive, and we should really be referring to the people of that culture as "Inuit"? Great. Now we're going to have to get used to eating Inuit Pies.
Transcript
- 00:13
Practice your mushing, 'cause today, we're looking at the life and contributions of… [Man zooming down a hill on a slow sled]
- 00:17
the Eskimo!
- 00:18
Actually, we don’t use the word “Eskimo” anymore.
- 00:21
That’s because Eskimo was a name given to these people, rather than one they chose, [The word Eskimo is crossed out]
- 00:25
and it's believed to mean “eater of raw meat”.
Full Transcript
- 00:27
It's offensive to them, and it's just pretty gross in general. [Zombie walking in the snow]
- 00:30
So instead, they call themselves “Inuit”, meaning “the people”, a name that we can
- 00:33
all agree is much easier to stomach. [Man cooking meat]
- 00:36
For 8,000 years, the Inuit have called the arctic and sub-arctic regions of Russia, Greenland
- 00:42
and North America, including Alaska, their home.
- 00:45
As you can probably imagine, life here isn’t exactly all sunshine and roses. [Man being pulled on a sled by a husky]
- 00:49
In fact, there are several days when the sun doesn’t shine at all during the region’s [It does dark]
- 00:54
freezing, 10-month-long winter.
- 00:56
You heard right, ten month long!
- 00:57
And in the summer, there’s a few days where the sun never sets. [Clock turns to 12:00am]
- 01:01
Even during this time of the “midnight sun”, the two months of summer weather are never [It is still bright outside]
- 01:05
exactly warm. [Man freezing holding a beach ball]
- 01:07
The Inuit have adapted to their climate in lots of ways, including the construction of
- 01:11
their homes.
- 01:12
These igloos are made of bricks of snow and ice… [Picture of an igloo]
- 01:14
… but their domed construction helps keep them warm and cozy inside, without ever melting. [Man jumps onto the igloo floor]
- 01:19
Inuit who live inland are nomads, meaning they don’t live in just one place, but are
- 01:23
always traveling in search of food, usually on dog sleds… [Inuit arrives at McDonalds on a sled]
- 01:27
…which we're pretty sure is absoltutely the cutest way to travel. [Puppies lying down in a field]
- 01:30
The in-land Inuit hunt caribou – or reindeer – for food…
- 01:33
…but don't worry!
- 01:34
They leave Rudolph and his pals alone. [Inuit walking past reindeer with a red nose]
- 01:36
They also hunt seals and other mammals. [A saw cutting a circle in a sheet of ice]
- 01:38
They catch them by cutting holes in the ice and waiting for the animal to come up for
- 01:42
air.
- 01:43
Which, incidentally, is also how polar bears hunt. [Polar bear roaring at a seal]
- 01:44
We wonder if they had secret hunting meetings…
- 01:47
Coastline Inuit get around in one-person boats made of oiled seal-skin.
- 01:51
They float great, and you don’t need a life-vest when you’re in one. [Inuit in his boat]
- 01:54
That’s because they’re made so the rider can easily turn the boat back over if it flips. [The boat flips all the way over]
- 01:58
From these boats, called qajaqs, the Inuit use their harpoons to hunt things
- 02:03
like seal…
- 02:04
… and whales.
- 02:05
But they usually hunt whales from their umiaqs which are, yes, bigger boats. [Huge whale appears]
- 02:10
Inuit ingenuity doesn’t stop there. [Disco lights]
- 02:12
Their clothing is also specially made to help keep them warm and dry. [People taking pictures of the Inuit in his clothes]
- 02:15
Outerwear is made from caribou and seal-skin, while feathered undershirts keep in body heat. [The animals used for the clothing protest]
- 02:20
These clothes are often lined with fur, because fashion doesn’t have to be sacrificed for
- 02:24
function.
- 02:25
The Inuit may hang in the remote tundra, but they’ve had a worldwide impact… especially [Inuit travelling on a sled]
- 02:30
on your local camping supply store.
- 02:31
That’s where you can find Inuit-inspired items such as kayaks, parkas, snow-goggles [Pictures of the items]
- 02:36
and more.
- 02:37
Oh, and igloos are currently on backorder. [Wet cardboard box]
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