History

• Inuits used dog sleds to help them travel across great distances.Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
  
  Inuit tribes are all descended from one common ancestor known as the Thule, Inuits who migrated across the Bering Strait thousands of years ago and spread across Alaska and Canada. Journeying thousands of miles, the Inuits made their way over the continent and settled in Greenland around A.D. 1250, at the same time Norse Vikings were beginning to disappear due to harsh climate change. Inuits, who were well-adapted to the Little Ice Age of the Medieval period, survived and flourished. As of 2011, more than 40,000 Inuits reside in Canada and 55,000 reside in Greenland.
  
  

Food

• Inuits continue to place great importance on their traditional hunting.Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
  
  The traditional diet of the Inuit people consists mostly of sea mammals. Hunters catch seals, walruses, whales and fish, such as salmon and pike. They also hunt birds like geese, duck and ptarmigan. Inuits cook, smoke, dry or ferment their foods. The fact that Inuits continue to hunt seals and whales remains controversial, but these animals continue to play an important role in the traditional diet of the Inuit people.
  
  

Art

• Inuit sculptures, carvings and dolls are an important source of income.Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Art plays an important role in the culture of the Inuit communities. Ancient tribes created sculptures and amulets believed to have magical or shamanistic powers, in addition to practical, everyday objects like baskets, pots and weapons. Today, art supports the economic survival of many remote Inuit communities, providing an important source of income. According to the Inuit Art Foundation, popular modern Inuit art includes carvings and sculptures made from bone, stone, ivory and metal, in addition to jewelry, prints, tapestries, weavings and dolls.
  
  

Religion

• Inuits believe in a spiritual force that created and maintains the universe.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Shamanism is central to the religious life of Inuit tribes, with shamans bridging the gap between man and nature as they lead ceremonies, initiations and rites for hunting, healing, good weather and spiritual protection for the tribe. According to an article published in "American Indian Quarterly" in 1983 by the University of Nebraska, the Inuit people believe in a supreme being called Sila, who is both a creator deity and the essence and life force of all living things. Sila is also a personification of air, controlling weather patterns, winds and storms. In some Inuit tribes, Sila is known as Hila, Hla, Shla, Sla, Narshuk or Tla. Alternatively, Inuit tribes in parts of Alaska believe that the world was created by Raven.