Sadlermiut

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Sadlermiut

A Sadlermiut man on an inflated walrus skin, 1830
Total population
Regions with significant populations
Canada
Languages
Eskimo-Aleut languages
Religions
Possibly Shamanism
Related ethnic groups
Aleuts, Inuit, Yupiks

The Sadlermiut (also called Sagdlirmiut[1] or Sallirmiut in modern Inuktitut spelling, from Sadlerk[2], now Salliq, the Inuktitut name for the settlement of Coral Harbour, Nunavut) were an Eskimo peoples living in near isolation mainly on and around Coats Island, Walrus Island, and Southampton Island in Hudson Bay.[3] They are sometimes thought to have been the last remnants of the Dorset culture[2] as they had preserved a distinct culture and dialect from the mainland Inuit. However, their culture and local traditions seem to have combined elements of both the Dorset and Thule societies, which may indicate otherwise.[4]

Contents

[edit] History

In 1824, the HMS Griper, under Captain George Francis Lyon, anchored off Cape Pembroke on Coats Island in Hudson Bay. The whalers then discovered a band of Eskimos who were said to have spoken a "strange dialect" and were called Sadlermiut.[5] Since then, the Sadlermiut continued to establish contact with Westerners. However, as with many North American aboriginals, the Sadlermiut were often susceptible to Western diseases. By 1896, there were only 70 of them remaining. Then, in the fall of 1902, the British trading[6]/whaling vessel named the Active had made a stop at Southampton Island. It is said that some of the Sadlermiut caught a disease, possibly an influenza[7], typhoid or typhus, from a sick sailor aboard the Active, which then spread to the entire community.[5][4] By winter 1902-03, the entire Sadlermiut population had died as a result.[3][6]

In 1954 and 1955, Henry B. Collins of the Smithsonian Institution studied Eskimo house ruins in the Canadian Arctic. He determined that these ruins were characteristic of Sadlermiut culture which had once been quite extensive. He also found evidence that the Sadlermiut were the last remnants of the Dorset culture. Recent genetic research has, moreover, supported the continuity between Sadlermiut and the Dorset people.

[edit] Origins

The Sadlermiut are most often cited for having maintained a unique culture and dialect apart from other Inuit, similar to the Unangam (Aleut), which is principally the result of an adaptation to environmental and historical constraints[8], whereas they may have had at least some genetic influx from palaeo-Eskimo groups[9]. Because of this, various hypotheses were established in order to try and explain the Sadlermiut's cultural differences. One of the such tries to establish a clear link between the Sadlermiut as direct descendants of the Dorset culture. A second explains that rather than being related to the Dorset, the Sadlermiut were in fact descendants of the Thule, whose geographically isolated culture would have developped idiosyncratically from the mainland Thule culture. A third theory indicates that the Sadlermiut did not necessarily belong to either group, but because of intermarriage, their roots may have in fact been part of both Dorset and Thule cultures.[3][8]

[edit] Lifestyle

The Sadlermiut were a hunter-gatherer peoples whose subsitence relied primarily on fishing and caribou hunting, although they also hunted seals, polar bears, and walrus.[10] Unlike the mainland Inuit however, the Sadlermiut were reported to show very little interest in hunting whales and trapping, and were thus of little use to traders who frequented Coral Harbour[3][11]. In addition, the Saldermiut often kept a "vigilant distance" between them and the traders, the explorers, and the Aivilingmiut.[12] This may be in part due to historical confrontations with the Aivilingmiut who sought Southampton island for its prosperous whaling potential, and the Dene people who moved Northwards during the summer in pursuit of caribou.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dalby, David (1994-2006). Zone [60] Inuitic. The LinguaSphere Online. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  2. ^ a b Petrone, Penny (1988). Northern Voices: Inuit Writing in English. University of Toronto Press, 12-14. ISBN 080207717X. 
  3. ^ a b c d Briggs, Jean L.; J. Garth Taylor. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Sadlermiut Inuit. Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  4. ^ a b The People Arrive. The Free Library (1999-03-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
  5. ^ a b "In the bones of the world (Part eight)", Nortext Publishing Corporation (Iqaluit), Nunatsiaq News, 2002-07-26. 
  6. ^ a b Aboriginal 7 - Life in Canada. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  7. ^ Renouf, M.A.P. (Fall 1991). Museum Notes - Palaeoeskimo in Newfoundland & Labrador. The Rooms. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  8. ^ a b Canadian Arctic historical archaeology in review. Revista de Arqueología Americana (2004). Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  9. ^ LYNNERUP, NIELS; JØRGEN MELDGAARD, JAN JAKOBSEN, MARTIN APPELT, ANDERS KOCH and BRUNO FRØHLICH (2003). Human Dorset Remains from Igloolik, Canada. Arctic Institute of North America. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  10. ^ Harris, John N. (1999-2004). The Way West: The Blocked Passage. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  11. ^ a b 5. Inuit Innovation. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (2006). Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
  12. ^ Mitchell, Marybelle (1996). From Talking Chiefs to a Native Corporate Elite: The Birth of Class and Nationalism Among Canadian Inuit. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 469. ISBN 0773513744. 

[edit] External links