Today's Arctic communities have all the comforts of modern living. Yet the Inuit survived in this harsh landscape for hundreds of years with nothing but the land and their own ingenuity. Join authors Alootook Ipellie and David MacDonald as they explore the amazing innovations of traditional Inuit and how their ideas continue to echo around the world.

Some inventions are still familiar to us: the one-person watercraft known as a kayak retains its Inuit name. Other innovations have been replaced by modern technology: slitted snow goggles protected Inuit eyes long before sunglasses arrived on the scene. And other ideas were surprisingly inspired: using human-shaped stone stacks (lnunnguat) to trick and trap caribou.

Many more Inuit innovations are explored here, including:

Dog sleds Kids' stuff Shelter Food preservation Clothing Medicine. In all, more than 40 Inuit items and ideas are showcased through dramatic photos and captivating language. From how these objects were made, to their impact on contemporary culture, The Inuit Thought of It is a remarkable catalog of Inuit invention.

Publication Date: February 28, 2007 The earth's polar regions have been the subject of three major research initiatives called "international polar years" (IPY). Beginning with the first IPY in 1882-1883, these initiatives have shared the goal of advancing basic scientific knowledge of the geography and geophysical processes of these remote lands and oceans. International polar year events have always captured the imagination of the public, yet the polar regions remain a distant and disconnected realm for most people. The global science community is set to begin another IPY in 2007-2008 with a special sense of urgency: simply put, the polar regions are a critical part of the earth's climate system, which is now undergoing rapid change in response to human activities. The 2007-2008 events will extend beyond basic studies in the geophysical and biological sciences to focus on global climate change and the research presently underway to advance our understanding of the human dimensions of a shifting Arctic environment.

Climate change is a pressing and much debated phenomenon of our time. Thin Ice accompanies an important exhibition, opening on January 20, 2007 at the Hood Museum of Art, that is one of the first to explore the human dimensions of climate change in the Inuit concept and perception of the Arctic climate as part of their culture. The exhibition presents objects from the Hood's permanent collection--boat miniatures, harpoons, masks, clothing, prints, and canoes, along with photographs--that are deeply embedded in the social and spiritual fabric of Inuit society while addressing the global debate around climate change. The Hood Museum of Art has partnered with the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding and the Institute of Arctic Studies in the development of what will be the first comprehensive exhibition of Dartmouth's Arctic collections and this accompanying catalogue.

The exhibition is curated by A. Nicole Stuckenberger, Stefansson Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Arctic Studies, Dickey Center for International Understanding, Dartmouth College, as part of International Polar Year. At every stage of the exhibition and catalogue project, the Hood Museum of Art, the Institute of Arctic Studies, and Dr. Stuckenberger received support from William Fitzhugh, Director of the Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Igor Krupnik, Curator of Circumpolar Ethnology at the Arctic Studies Center, Kenneth S. Yalowitz, director of the Dickey Center and Ross A. Virginia, head of the Institute and Professor of Environmental Studies, who generously supported the exhibition and catalogue throughout this project. Ross Virginia has spearheaded the programs and conferences at the College in relation to the International Polar Year and is overseeing Dartmouth's role in hosting the international gathering for Arctic Science Summit Week in March 2007.

Publication Date: July 27, 2004 The approximately 150,000 Inuit are indigenous to four nations - Denmark (Greenland), Canada, the United States (Alaska), and Russia - and thus have had very different colonial experiences and participate as citizens of those nations in different ways. Far from being victims of colonialism, Inuit are actively involved in shaping their social environments. Nonetheless, modern social and political realities present Inuit with many of the same issues faced by distinct peoples around the world. This volume describes how Inuit as a single people, citizens of separate nations, and residents of individual communities deal with education, language rights, self-government and self determination, the militarization of their lands and their lives, climate change and pollution, and globalization.

This work presents an overview of the Inuit peoples of the Circumpolar North. Unlike other works that focus on traditional Inuit cultures, this work documents the social, political, and economic history of Inuit as part of a globalized world. The work contains information on traditional Inuit cultures, but special emphasis is placed on the recent history of Inuit communities. More than 450 dictionary entries cover issues of society, economy, and politics; influential educators and writers, environmentalists, and politicians; and the many voluntary associations and governmental agencies that have played a role in Inuit history. The introductory essay, chronology, and well-developed bibliography make this an ideal reference source for the researcher or student.

Publication Date: November 1, 2008 On the surface, naming is simply a way to classify people and their environments. The premise of this study is that it is much more a form of social control, a political activity, a key to identity maintenance and transformation. Governments legislate and regulate naming; people fight to take, keep, or change their names. A name change can indicate subjugation or liberation, depending on the circumstances. But it always signifies a change in power relations. Since the late 1970s, the author has looked at naming and renaming, cross-culturally and internationally, with particular attention to the effects of colonisation and liberation. The experience of Inuit in Canada is an example of both. Colonisation is only part of the Nunavut experience. Contrary to the dire predictions of cultural genocide theorists, Inuit culture particularly traditional naming has remained extremely strong, and is in the midst of a renaissance. Here is a ground-breaking study by the founder of the discipline of political onomastics. Editorial Reviews Review - a thought-provoking book. Alia lays out the intricacies of Inuit naming so clearly, describes the Arctic environment so vividly, and conveys such a rich sense of Inuit values, concerns, and humour that readers are likely to hunger for more information and to pose ethnographic and on mastic questions that press forward the horizons of Inuit ethnography. Names and Nunavut is a welcome addition to Arctic ethnography and should be of interest not only to linguists and anthropologists working in the Arctic but to anyone interested in the relationship between onomasty, personhood, and cosmology and to anyone looking for fresh insights to the micropractices of linguistic and onomastic colonialism.A" * NAMES A Journal of Onomastics "Embedded within this nuanced and extraordinarily well-researched account of the political onomastics (the politics of naming) involved with Inuit (colonial) history are an abundance of theoretical, ethical and political insights into both the complex nature of the Inuit and their evolving engagement with Qallunaat (non-Inuit, Euro-Canadian), as well as the complex nature of engaging in such research. This publication, refreshing in its focus on extensive local community research, delves into the complicated dynamic between colonial administration and its effects on the culture and identity of the Inuits. * British Journal of Canadian Studies About the Author Valerie Alia is Visiting Professor, Centre for Research into Diversity in the Professions, Leeds Metropolitan University and a Senior Associate of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University. An award-winning scholar, journalist, photographer and poet, she was the inaugural Distinguished Professor of Canadian Culture at Western Washington University and is Co-Director of Research and a member of the Executive Group of the international, UK-based Institute of Communication Ethics and a member of the editorial board of Ethical Space: the international journal of communication ethics. She has directed research projects on cross-cultural communication and media ethics and was consultant to Canada s Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Royal Commission on Aboriginal People, Yukon Women's Directorate and the Nation of Immigrants Project. She is a founding member of the International Arctic Social Sciences Association and the International Council of Onomastic Scientists.

Release Date: May 18, 2010 Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska features more than 200 objects representing the masterful artistry and design traditions of twenty Alaska Native peoples. Based on a collaborative exhibition created by Alaska Native communities, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, and the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, this richly illustrated volume celebrates both the long-awaited return of ancestral treasures to their native homeland and the diverse cultures in which they were created.

Despite the North's transformation through globalizing change, the objects shown in these pages are interpretable within ongoing cultural frames, articulated in languges still spoken. They were made for a way of life on the land that is carried on today throughout Alaska. Dialogue with the region's First Peoples evokes past meanings but focuses equally on contemporary values, practices, and identities.

Objects and narratives show how each Alaska Native nation is unique—and how all are connected. After introductions to the history of the land and its people, universal themes of “Sea, Land, Rivers,” “Family and Community,” and “Ceremony and Celebration” are explored referencing exquisite masks, parkas, beaded garments, basketry, weapons, and carvings that embody the diverse environments and practices of their makers. Accompanied by traditional stories and personal accounts by Alaska Native elders, artists, and scholars, each piece featured in Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage evokes both historical and contemporary meaning, and breathes the life of its people.