Inuit

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'Big News' From DNA: Probable Viking, Inuit Encounters

Walruses brought to Europe by the Norse traced to Baffin Bay, home of the Thule Inuit

(Newser) - The idea that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas long ago moved from the history books to the garbage can, but if you need more disputing evidence, you can find it in a new study on the Vikings, whose quest for ivory is believed to have led them into the path...

Artist Who Showcased Modern Inuit Life Found Dead

Annie Pootoogook had struggled with artistic success

(Newser) - An Inuit artist whose "impact was revolutionary" but who had trouble coping with "serious stardom" was found dead in a river this week. Annie Pootoogook's life changed dramatically in 2006, the Ottawa Citizen reports. She went from drawing in a tiny town in Canada's deep north...

Omega-3 Story Gets 'Intriguing New Twist'

Unless you live in the Arctic, researchers say

(Newser) - One in 10 Americans take fish oil supplements thanks in part to decades-old research. The Inuit—who consumed a diet mainly of whales, seals, and fish—rarely had heart attacks, and researchers speculated in the 1970s that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish guard against them, reports the New York ...

Explorer Ship Missing Since 1845 Found in Arctic

Vessel that vanished during Franklin Expedition is in Northwest Passage: Canada

(Newser) - In 1845, British explorer Sir John Franklin set off with 128 men on the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus to explore the Arctic's Northwest Passage. Both ships apparently got stuck in the ice and then vanished, earning their place in the annals of Canada's greatest adventure mysteries—until...

1st Arctic Dwellers Lived There for 4K Years

The Dorsets never mixed DNA with other peoples, study says

(Newser) - An ancient people lived in the Arctic a thousand years ago, leaving behind few clues to explain their heritage or sudden disappearance. Now a new DNA study sheds light on the so-called Dorset people, saying they migrated from Asia around 3000 BC and became the first settlers in the North...

Beluga Whales Infected With Cat Parasite

Poses health threat to Inuits

(Newser) - The Toxoplasma gondii parasite, carried by cats, can cause rats to stop fearing the felines; in humans, it can cause blindness. Now, beluga whales in the Arctic have been discovered to have the parasite—and researchers fear it could infect the people who eat them. "The only way to...

US Pushes to Restrict Polar Bear Hunts

It will ask for an international ban on the sale of parts

(Newser) - Polar bears apparently have more to worry about than sea ice. The US thinks too many are being hunted in Canada and will push for an international ban on the trade of polar bear pelts, claws, teeth, and other body parts, reports the Los Angeles Times . If the US convinces...

Canadian Parliament Dines on Seal
Canadian Parliament
Dines on Seal
TAKE THAT, EU!
Mar 9, 2010 10:27 AM CST

Canadian Parliament Dines on Seal

Lunch gesture protests EU's ban on import of seal products

(Newser) - Miffed by a ban on Canadian seal imports by the EU, which charges cruelty in the annual hunt, the country's MPs have defiantly put seal meat on tomorrow's parliamentary lunch menu. By eating seal, a Liberal MP tells the Guardian , “all political parties will have the opportunity to demonstrate...

Winter Games Logo More Obscure Than a Pile of Rocks
 Winter Games Logo 
 More Obscure Than 
 a Pile of Rocks 
VANCOUVER OLYMPICS
Feb 22, 2010 9:29 AM CST

Winter Games Logo More Obscure Than a Pile of Rocks

Inuit stone marker inukshuk now a popular lawn ornament

(Newser) - The answer to the head-scratching surrounding the Vancouver Olympics logo—“It looks like an alien,” says one spectator—is a head-scratching name: inukshuk. It means “something that substitutes for a person” in Inuit, and denotes a traditional marker built to mark camp sites or memorialize tragedy. It’...

Teen Survives Night Stranded With Polar Bears

Canadian youth rescued from Arctic ice floe

(Newser) - A 17-year-old Inuit youth is in a local hospital with hypothermia after spending over 24 hours stranded on a drifting ice floe in Canada's Hudson Bay with three polar bears. The teen became separated from his uncle as the two walked back toward a settlement after their snowmobile broke down...

Norway Summit to Debate Cutback in Polar Bear Hunts

Hunters kill 3% of polar bears each year

(Newser) - World leaders meet tomorrow in Norway to consider reducing polar bear hunting, reports the Independent. Conservation organizations estimate the polar bear population, particularly hard hit by global warming, will drop two-thirds to the brink of extinction over the next 50 years. Greenland, the US and Russia permit hunting by Inuit...

Greenland Votes for Self-Rule
 Greenland Votes for Self-Rule 
Nov 26, 2008 10:52 AM CST

Greenland Votes for Self-Rule

Danish territory wants to control own police force, oil fields

(Newser) - Three-fourths of the Greenlanders who voted in yesterday’s referendum on self-rule want more autonomy from Denmark, Time reports. The historic vote—which must still be adopted by parliaments in Copenhagen and Nuuk—puts the world’s largest island on the path to becoming the first independent Inuit state. But...

Hunting Canada's Polar Bears Breeds Heated Argument

Scientists, locals clash over quotas in Canada's frozen north

(Newser) - One man’s endangered species is another’s livelihood in the Arctic north, where polar bear hunting is this season’s hot-button issue, the Economist reports. Scientists set a sustainable annual quota to protect dwindling species near the Canada-Greenland border, but some Inuit locals—who distrust outsiders and use the...

Canada Apologizes to Indigenous Groups

Ottawa admits abuse of native cultures

(Newser) - Canada formally apologized to its indigenous peoples yesterday for forcing children to attend government-run schools where they were often sexually and physically abused. Prime Minister Stephen Harper read the apology in Parliament, calling the forced assimilation a "sad chapter" in the nation's history that damaged several generations, the Globe ...

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