Inughuit

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The Inughuit or Polar Eskimos are the northernmost group of Inuit, and the world's northernmost peoples. They were first contacted by European peoples by the expedition led by Sir John Ross in 1818; Ross dubbed them "Arctic Highlanders." In 1908 and 1909, the Inughuit were instrumental in assisting both Frederick Cook and Robert Peary on their claimed conquests of the North Pole. They call their language Inuktun; in the official Greenlandic language it is referred to as Avanersuarmiutut. The northermost settlement was at the village of Etah (at 78°19'N), but it was abandoned due to the extremely harsh conditions there. The northernmost constant settlement is now Hiurapaluk.

Dundas, or Thule to Europeans, was the chief settlement of the Inughuit until 1953 when it was displaced by the United States' Thule Air Base, with its residents relocated to Qaanaaq; the Inughuit have brought a claim in Danish and international courts against the United States, which they won, but as the U.S. does not recognize these courts, there is little chance of compensation.

[edit] References

• Recognzing the Inughuit Indigenous Peoples of Greenland, from the Inuit Circumpolar Conference