The Inuit are Indigenous people who live in the arctic and subarctic regions of the North American continent in areas of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Modern Inuit (descendents of Thule Inuit) are culturally related to Iñupiat (northern Alaska) and Yupik (Siberia and western Alaska),"Inuit", Canadian Encycloprdia and the Aleut, who live in the Aleutian Islands of Siberia and Alaska. The term "Eskimo" is likely derived from the Algonquinian language and has historically been used to describe the Inuit, Yupik and other Indigenous Alaskan and Siberian peoples, but this appears to be in decline and is considered offensive. The role of Inuit women is crucial for the survival of communities through shared responsibilities with Inuit men. Recent modernization and urbanization have transformed traditional Inuit culture, thus influencing the role of women within the culture which includes both positive and negative impacts on the overall well-being of Inuit women.
Family structure and marriage
In Inuit culture, marriage was not a choice, but a necessity. Inuit men and women needed each other to survive. Married couples had to work together to overcome nearly impossible living conditions. Because every individual had to rely on a partner to survive, marriages were often arranged at birth to ensure the survival of the family. Love marriages, or choice marriages, existed, but these were all but arranged because there were usually few eligible partners. A young woman was eligible for marriage after puberty, but a man had to prove he was efficient enough in hunting to support a family before he could marry.
Inuit marriages rarely included large ceremonies; couples were often considered married after the birth of their first child. There were monogamous and polygamous marriages, but polygyny was rare because few men could afford to support multiple wives.Morrison, David. 2004. Inuit Culture. In The Oxford Companion to Canadian History. Gerald Hallowell, ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Families exchanged gifts before marriages, but no official bride price or dowry was paid. Although men were considered the head of the family, both genders could demand a divorce.Lowry, Shannon. 1994. Natives of the Far North: Alaska’s Vanishing Culture Through the Eye of Edward Sheriff Curtis. Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. However, divorce was frowned upon because it was bad for the family and the community as a whole.Billson, Janet Mancini, and Kyra Mancini. 2007. Inuit Women: Their Powerful Spirit in a Century of Change. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Spouses were sometimes traded or exchanged, and women had some say in this process. This was a common alternative to divorce because neither family would be without a component vital to its survival — a mother and a wife. In Inuit culture, the family was typically represented by a qullik (lamp) or a hearth, which was the property and responsibility of the wife. This lamp had significant symbolic meaning in the family, the community, and the culture.LeMoine, Genevieve. 2003. Woman of the House: Gender, Architecture, and Ideology in Dorset Prehistory. Arctic Anthropology 40(1): 121–138.
Food production and preparation Hunting and fishing were the primary sources of food for the Inuit, and men were traditionally responsible for these duties. Women's duties included gathering other sources of food, such as eggs and berries, and preparing the food the hunters brought back. Seals, walrus, whales and caribou were the most common targets of Inuit hunters. Animals killed by the hunters needed to be butchered and frozen quickly, before they went bad or froze before being butchered. Women were traditionally responsible for the butchering, skinning, and cooking of animals taken by the hunters.Friesen, Max T. 1999. Resource Structure, Scalar Stress, and the Development of Inuit Social Organization. World Archaeology 31(1): 21–37.
In Inuit culture, it was believed that the women's respect for the animals killed during hunting trips, and subsequent care when butchering them, would ensure successful hunts. Food, as well as other resources, were often shared throughout the community as needed. Women were in charge of the distribution of food to families in the community.
The Inuit moved with the seasons to maximize their chances of a successful hunt; their entire families often moved with them. Because of this, tools and other items used by the Inuit for hunting and food preparation had to be light and easily transported. Among some Inuit groups, this led to the development of complex tools such as light and powerful metal harpoons and wood stoves, which were being used by the late 1800s.Labrador, Nachvak and Kongu Labrador. 2006. A New Design: When Europeans Met Inuit in Labrador, Home and Hearth Were Reshaped. The Beaver: Exploring Canada’s History 86(3): 26–29.
Children, reproduction, and motherhood Childbirth and childcare were two of the most important responsibilities for an Inuk woman. Inuit parents showed a very high level of warmth and affection to their children. Inuit children usually began to contribute to the family and community by the age of 12 through activities like picking berries and hunting small game. During this period, they learned skills from their parents through close observation. Learning through observation was the chosen method because it was not practical for children to practice their skills by sewing valuable skins or accompanying men on important hunting trips.
Women raised boys and girls. Men taught boys certain skills, such as hunting, and women taught girls certain skills, such as sewing.
Kinship is an important factor to an Inuk child's cultural belonging. From birth, children are introduced to their duties and ties of kinship. One way Inuit achieve this is by the practice referred to as name-soul. After a member of the family has died, their name is used as the name for a child of the same family line. The name provides a child with a cultural tie, belonging within their community, and personal identity. In addition, name-soul allows for prior family members to carry on their legacy in their family lineage even after passing. The children are raised in a family-oriented environment, as their name serves as a reminder that the group comes first. There were no boy's and girl's names in Inuit culture, so it was common for a girl to have the name of her grandfather, for example.
Children were taught at a young age to listen to their parents and respect their elders, and were treated with more autonomy than non-Inuit children. Over disciplining a child was seen as counterproductive, so children were rarely punished for transgressions. Learning was regarded as a partnership between child and adult, with children being more guided through life than directly taught or lectured.
Adoption was very common in Inuit culture, and it was often very informal. Unwanted babies, or babies a family could not support, could be offered to another family. If the other family accepted, the adoption was complete.Kent, Heather. 2000. MDs Get Crash Course in Inuit Culture as Young Patients Arrive in Ottawa. Canadian Medical Association Journal 162(10): 1481.
Infanticide occurred when conditions were desperate and the group was threatened by starvation.Inuit Women: Their Powerful Spirit in a Century of Change By Janet Mancini Billson A mother abandoned an infant in hopes that someone less desperate might find and adopt the child before the cold or animals killed it. The belief that the Inuit regularly resorted to infanticide may be due in part to studies done by Asen Balikci, Milton Freeman, and David Riches among the Netsilik, along with the trial of Kikkik.
Pregnancy behaviours and beliefs in Canada
Pregnancy In regards to conception and pregnancy, young Inuit women were discouraged from engaging in sexual intercourse during puberty, ages 11 to 13 years, until they reached "prime maternity age", after marriage, about 15. Similar to menarche, many young Inuit women were unaware of the indications of their first pregnancy. Elders recount that young women often thought that they had been cured of their menses when they experienced amenorrhoea for the first time.Qinuajuak, L. (1996). Inuit birth traditions. Midwifery Today and Childbirth Education, (40), 56. It was not uncommon for the young woman to learn about her first pregnancy from her mother or grandmother when she began to show (or carry weight). According to elders, pregnancy was also determined by, "looking into the face" of the young woman and/or feeling her stomach for a fetus.Ekho, N., & Ottokie, U. (2000). Childrearing practices. In J. Briggs (Ed.), Interviewing Inuit elders (pp. 1-137). Iqaluit, NU: Nunavut Arctic College. Once aware, it was important that the woman immediately divulge her pregnancy status to her mother, husband, and close community, as the Inuit believed that her status demanded special considerations and/or treatment to ensure the health of the mother, baby, and camp.
To prevent miscarriage, the husband and camp were to assure that the woman did not become mentally stressed or exhausted during the pregnancy. This taboo extended to include not allowing the husband to get angry with his wife at any time during the pregnancy.Nakasuk S, Paniaq H, Ootoova E, Angmaalik P. (1999) Pregnancy. Interviewing Inuit elders Introduction (1): 141-143. Nunavut Arctic College. If miscarriage did occur, the woman was expected to inform her mother and the camp right away. According to traditional Inuit beliefs, hiding such a secret would bring bad luck for the camp such as hunger, lack of food, or illness.
Taboos (pittailiniq) in pregnancy
In pregnancy, women's care was traditionally guided by the taboos, known as pittailiniq, from the elders in the community. These taboos, which were passed down through generations and varied somewhat across geographic regions or camps, informed the woman's behaviors and activities in order to prevent complications, promote a healthy birth, and ensure desired characteristics of the infant. For example, in regards to activity, the Inuit had many pittailiniq about maintaining physical activity throughout pregnancy and resisting idleness or laziness, which was believed to adversely affect labor and birth. The Inuit words sailliq and sailliqtuq, distinguished between the women who relaxed (sailliq) as appropriate, and those who relaxed too much, sailliqtuq. Another common pittailiniq instructed the woman to massage her stomach until she felt the fetus move so that the baby wouldn't "stick" to the uterus.
In interviews with Inuit elders, numerous pittailiniq about the woman's activity and behavior in pregnancy are discussed. Some of these are listed below.
Pittailiniq on activity in pregnancy
In the morning when waking, go outside as fast as possible, to ensure a short labor and fast delivery Don't relax too much or the placenta might stick to the womb Don't lie around or take naps or the labor will be long When you stretch sealskin on a frame, don't wind the rope around your hands because this would cause the umbilical cord to be wrapped around the baby's neck. Don't put anything bowl-shaped on your head so the placenta won't get stuck on the baby's head. Don't walk backward or the baby will be breech Don't put your head or arm partway through a doorway or into a hole because during birth the baby will present and retreat back and forth, or the baby will come out arm first
Pittailiniq on behaviour in pregnancy
When called outside or asked to perform a task, do so immediately to ensure a speedy delivery When beginning a project such as sewing, finish it or the labour will be longer Don't scratch the stomach so that stretch marks will be less noticeable Don't speak about or stare at other peoples' physical oddities such as a big nose, or the baby will have even more serious oddities