Inuit

Inuit

Tonia Billman

Prof. Geoff Wood

09/19/2011

          The Inuit are a band of people that live in or around artic areas. They are mainly found in

Canada, Greenland, Serbia and Alaska. They normally have a populations of around 60 to 300

people. This band of people usually have a series of camps or settlements. These settlements

are made up of one household or several households combined together.

    These arrangements can be compared to what is going on in my life today. I live in one

household with my sister. She is married and she has 3 children at home. My sister and her

husband make most household decisions. I only make make decisions while they are not

at home. We also share all the chores and the food. This is much like the Inuit household.

    The Intuit household usually contains parents and their children. They may also

grandparents, newly married children and relatives. Both men and women make most of the

decisions in the household. Men make the decisions   when it concerns anything to do with life

and death situations. This includes group movement and economic decisions.

    Camps with several homes always pick a leader. This leader is usually picked based on how

much seniority he has and his experience. If there is more than one answer to a question or a

problem, this leader usually solves the problem. This keeps fighting down, law and order and

their society in check (Richard Effland, nd).
   

    The Inuit people also had what they called a Shaman. This is the religious leader of the camp

or settlement. The Shaman also assumed a leadership position. This was mostly because the

Shawman was considered a sacred person. One who could control people over fear of their

religion. Sometimes the people of the band would actually be in debt to him or her. This occurred

because the Shawman did a favor for them, or did some kind of ritual for protection (Richard...