Inuit & Sami Peoples
Know that indigenous peoples have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years — the Inuit across Canada, Alaska, and Greenland, and the Sami in northern Scandinavia — developing remarkable knowledge of the environment, using dog sleds and kayaks for transport, wearing animal-skin clothing for warmth, and building igloos as temporary shelters, with a deep respect for the animals and land they depend on
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name the Inuit (Canada, Alaska, Greenland) and Sami (northern Scandinavia) as Arctic indigenous peoples
- Describe at least three aspects of traditional Arctic life: dog sleds, kayaks, animal-skin clothing, igloos, or hunting practices
- Explain that indigenous Arctic peoples have deep knowledge of their environment developed over thousands of years
The lesson
For thousands of years, people have lived in the freezing Arctic. People whose families have lived in the same place for a very long time are called indigenous peoples. The Inuit are indigenous to Canada, Alaska, and Greenland. The Sami are indigenous to the far north of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Both groups learned how to survive and thrive in one of the coldest places on Earth.
Arctic life needed clever tools. Hunters built kayaks, thin boats used for hunting seals on icy water, and used dog sleds to travel fast over snow. People wore clothing made from animal skins and fur, which kept out the freezing wind and cold. When hunters were far from home, they built igloos, round shelters made of packed snow. Some igloos were slept in for a night or two, and some were warm winter homes for a whole season.
A Sami family follows their reindeer herd across the snow every year. The grandmother in the family can look at the sky and the snow and tell the others exactly where it is safe to walk. She learned this from her own grandmother, who learned it from hers, going back hundreds of years.
Inuit and Sami people don't just survive in the Arctic, they know it deeply. They watch the ice, the weather, and the animals closely, and they only take what they need. That careful, respectful watching is what has kept their families alive for thousands of years.
The Inuit and the Sami have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years, using dog sleds, kayaks, animal-skin clothing, and igloos, and they know the ice and animals better than anyone.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.