Inuvialuit

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The Inuvialuit (Inuit language: the real people) are Inuit people who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They are descendants of the Thule people of which other descendants inhabit Russia. Their homeland - the Inuvialuit Settlement Region - covers the Arctic Ocean coastline area from the Alaskan border east to Amundsen Gulf and includes the western Canadian Arctic Islands. The land, which largely belongs to the canadian Northwest Territories, was demarked in 1984 by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

The area of the land is 91,000 square kilometres and includes the towns and hamlets of Tuktoyaktuk (population approx. 930), Sachs Harbour (population approx. 114), Paulatuk (population approx. 286), and Ulukhaktok (population approx. 398). The town of Inuvik (population approx. 2894) and the hamlet of Aklavik (population approx. 632) are shared with the Gwichʼin people.

Before the 20th century. the Inuvialuit Settlement Region was primarily inhabited by Siglit Inuit, but in the second half of the 19th century, their numbers were dramatically reduced by the introduction of new diseases. Inuit from Alaska moved into traditionally Siglit areas in the 1910s and 20s, enticed in part by renewed demand for furs from the Hudson Bay Company. These Inuit are called Uummarmiut - which means people of the green trees - in reference to their settlements near the tree line. Originally, there was an intense dislike between the Siglit and the Uummarmiut, but these differences have faded over the years, and the two communities are thoroughly intermixed these days. The Inuit of Ulukhaktok are neither Siglit nor Uummarmiut. They refer to themselves as Ulukhaktokmuit after Ulukhaktok, the native name for what used to be called Holman.

[edit] See also

• Inuvialuktun language