For more than four thousand years, Inuit — a founding people of what is now Canada — have occupied the Arctic land and waters from the Mackenzie Delta in the west, to the Labrador coast in the east and from the Hudson’s Bay Coast, to the islands of the High Arctic.
Inuit history was maintained through a long tradition of storytelling and legend.
Thule are the ancestors of today’s Canadian Inuit. They lived much as Sivullirmiut did, in the same areas, following the migratory patterns of land and sea mammals. Archeological evidence shows the Thule culture had skills and technology to harvest large whales, seals, caribou, muskox, fish and birds, depending on the season and location. Before Europeans arrived, Inuit handcrafted their own tools from resources found on the land and in the animals they harvested.
The Thule wandered by foot and dog team over large distances, depending on where harvests were plentiful. They lived in iglus (snow dwellings), which were often quite large. During the summer, they lived in tents (tupiqs) made of animal skins, or sod houses (qarmaqs). Everyone played an important role in the survival of the group. While men hunted for food, women made warm clothing from caribou and seal skins suitable for the harsh Arctic climate. Both men and women made the necessary tools. As soon as children were able, they began to learn adult roles.
This way of life was practised for thousands of years until the arrival of European explorers, whalers, traders and, finally, settlers, who brought with them a new world and, indeed, a new way of life.