Greenlandic Inuit

The Greenlandic Inuit are the largest and Indigenous ethnic group of Greenland. They share a common ancestry, culture, and history, and they natively speak one of the three Greenlandic languages. As Greenland is a country within the Kingdom of Denmark, citizens of Greenland are also citizens of Denmark and of the European Union.

About 89 percent of Greenland's population is Greenlandic Inuit, which is around 51,349 people as of 2012. They are made up of three major groups: the Kalaallit of west Greenland, the Tunumiit of east Greenland, and the Inughuit of north Greenland. Each group speaks its own language.

Most Greenlanders can speak both Kalaallisut and Danish. Many Greenlanders live in Greenland, but some also live in Denmark or other countries in Scandinavia and North America. The average Greenlander has a mix of Inuit and European ancestry.

Regions

The Inuit people come from the Thule people, who moved to Greenland between the years 1200 and 1400. Because much of Greenland is covered by ice, Inuit people live in three main areas: Polar, Eastern, and Western. In the 1850s, some Inuit from Canada also joined the communities in the Polar area.

The Eastern Inuit, also called Tunumiit, live in a place with a milder climate, called Tunu or Tasiilaq. From small boats called kayaks, they can hunt sea animals all year long.

Language

Kalaallisut is the official language of Greenland. It is a type of the Greenlandic language, which belongs to the Inuit languages family. Kalaallisut is taught in schools and used a lot in Greenland's media.

History

The first people came to Greenland from Ellesmere Island around 2500 to 2000 BCE. They lived in north and south Greenland as the Independence I and Saqqaq culture. Later, the Early Dorset people replaced them around 700 BCE. These groups were not related to the Inuit.

Around the year 1000, the Thule, ancestors of today’s Inuit, moved into Greenland from the north. They survived mainly by hunting seal, narwhal, and walrus. In 1814, Greenland became a territory of Denmark through the Treaty of Kiel.

In 1979, Greenlanders voted to become autonomous, and there is an active independence movement. Over the years, Greenland’s population changed due to health programs and improvements in living conditions. For example, efforts to fight Tuberculosis helped the population grow. By 1980, the population had reached about 41,000 people.

Society

Gender roles among Greenlandic Inuit are flexible, though historically men hunted while women prepared meat and skins. Most marriages are chosen by the couple, and monogamy is common. Extended families play a big role in Inuit society.

The Greenlandic Inuit eat a mix of local foods and imported foods. Many prefer traditional dishes like whale skin and dried cod. People who grew up in villages eat local foods more often than those living in Danish areas. Some find it hard to get traditional foods, while others want more variety in their meals or find these foods expensive.

The kinds of whales that have been hunted and eaten in the past are Minke and Fin whales. These whales are watched by the International Whaling Commission, and Greenland has rules to limit how many can be hunted each year.

Art and spirituality

The Greenlandic Inuit are skilled artists who make beautiful things by sewing animal skins and creating masks. They also make special figures called tupilait, which represent evil spirits, often using sperm whale ivory for carving.

Art is very important on Ammassalik Island, where people carved wooden maps of the coastline in the late 1800s. The Greenlandic Inuit believed that spirits lived in every part of a person's body, including joints and knucklebones.