Inuit Lifeways

[Odin]

During this time of year, I am enjoying rediscovering these old films by the NFB from the early 1960s. I remember watching some of these in school as a child.  They give insight into the traditional lifeways of the Inuit, Inuvialuit of the Western Canadian arctic, and Inupiat of Eastern Alaska.

This is a series called Tuktu (a fictional name, but probably derived from Tuktoyuktuk, a town in the far north.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuktoyaktuk


Tuktu 1: Clothing and its Importance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEyQG2cv298


Tuktu 2: How to build a kayak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKbwNdes0SY


Tuktu 3: Hand Skills

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAzlmOvVH4c


Tuktu 4: How to build a snow palace igloo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWKfJQpZtaM&t=4s


Tuktu 5: Indoor games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4oj0sg2m54


Tuktu 6: More indoor games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFX7or7Vek8


Tuktu 7: Fishing with a Rock Weir

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6li84mjUZT8


Tuktu 8: The Magic Bow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CFqptMUlPE


Tuktu 9: The Magic Spear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sdJA1M0XcQ


Tuktu 10: The Caribou Hunt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YK5SUOF44U


Tuktu 11: Seal Hunting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z824vCrG5iQ


Tuktu 12: Dogs and their importance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIsXsXBw6oI


Tuktu 13: Animal Friends of the Arctic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_mRpgS8f10


Also:

Encyclopedia Britannica film about an Inuit family in 1959:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9oIYE4iWMk

(I'm thinking this could be from Alaska, judging from the clothing, facial features and the landscape. So probably the Yupik Eskimo, rather than Canadian Inuit)

[alexander]

Woah! Looking forward to watch these. Thanks a lot, Odin.

[Nomad]

Watching these gives me such a sense of longing. Sure it is sensational and portrays a "noble savage" myth that was common at the time of production, but hearing descriptions of moonlit ice caps and seal hunting fills me with comfort. Alaska has always been a dream of mine.