Knowra Thule culture Thule culture An ancestral Inuit archaeological culture that spread across the North American Arctic beginning around a thousand years ago. Its communities combined Arctic maritime hunting with technologies suited to travel, settlement, and storage.
Kayak : A narrow, covered watercraft propelled with a double-bladed paddle, developed by Arctic Indigenous peoples. Enabled hunters to pursue seals and other marine animals in open water.
Birnirk culture : An archaeological culture of northern Alaska that preceded and contributed to the development of Thule culture. Its technologies and practices are among the clearest antecedents of Thule lifeways.
Inuit : An Indigenous people whose homelands span Greenland and the Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska. Modern Inuit communities are descendants of Thule populations, with diverse histories and identities.
Qariaraqyuk : A major Thule archaeological settlement on Somerset Island in the Canadian Arctic. Its substantial houses and artifacts document a large community shaped by bowhead whaling.
Inuit language : A group of closely related languages spoken by Inuit communities across Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Linguistic continuity complements archaeological evidence for the historical connections of Inuit communities.
Umiak : An open, skin-covered boat traditionally used by Arctic peoples to carry people and cargo. Its capacity supported transport and communal hunting of large marine mammals.
Paleo-Inuit : The archaeological term for ancient Arctic peoples who lived before the ancestors of modern Inuit expanded eastward. Thule expansion followed earlier Paleo-Inuit occupations of much of the Arctic.
Inuvialuit : An Inuit people of the western Canadian Arctic, especially the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea coast. Their homeland preserves archaeological evidence of later Thule settlement and adaptation.
Dorset culture : A Paleo-Inuit archaeological culture that preceded Thule expansion in much of the eastern North American Arctic. Dorset sites show that Thule arrival followed a distinct earlier Arctic society.
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit : Inuit knowledge, values, and ways of understanding the world, passed through experience and community practice. Indigenous knowledge offers perspectives on Arctic history that archaeological classification alone cannot provide.
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