The Netsilik Inuit live predominantly in the communities of Kugaaruk

Kugaaruk, Nunavut

-Culture:The historical inhabitants were Arviligjuarmiut. Kugaaruk is a traditional "Central Inuit" community. Until 1968, the people followed a nomadic lifestyle. The population is approximately 97% Inuit and most people self-identify as Netsilik Inuit. The residents blend a land based lifestyle...

 and Gjoa Haven

Gjoa Haven, Nunavut

Gjoa Haven is a hamlet in Nunavut, above the Arctic Circle, located in the Kitikmeot Region, northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It is the only settlement on King William Island...

 of the Kitikmeot Region

Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut

Kitikmeot Region is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of Victoria Island with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boothia Peninsula, together with King William Island and the southern portion of Prince of Wales Island...

, Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

 and to a smaller extent in Taloyoak

Taloyoak, Nunavut

Taloyoak or Talurjuaq is located on the Boothia Peninsula, Kitikmeot, in Canada's Nunavut Territory. The community is served only by air and by annual supply sealift. Taloyoak may mean "large blind", referring to a stone caribou blind or a screen used for caribou hunting...

 and the north Qikiqtaaluk Region. They were, in the early 20th century, among the last Northern indigenous people to encounter missionaries from the south.

Language

The missionaries introduced a system of written language called Qaniujaaqpait, based on syllabics

Syllabics

Syllabics may refer to:* Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, a writing system for Inuit and Cree* Abugida, a writing system in which consonant graphemes are inherently associated with a default vowel...

, to the Netsilik in the 1920s. Eastern Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

, among them the Netsilik, were the only Inuit peoples to adopt a syllabic system of writing. The Netsilik's spoken language is Natsilingmiutut. The Utkuhiksalingmiut

Utkuhiksalik dialect

Utkuhiksalik, Utkuhikhalik, Utkuhikhaliq, Utkuhiksalingmiutitut, Utkuhiksalingmiutut, Utkuhiksalingmiut Inuktitut, Gjoa Haven dialect is a sub-dialect of Natsilingmiutut dialect of Inuvialuktun language once spoken in the Utkuhiksalik area of Nunavut, and now spoken...

, a Caribou Inuit

Caribou Inuit

Caribou Inuit, Barren-ground Caribou hunters, are bands of inland Inuit who lived west of Hudson Bay in northern Canada's Keewatin Region of the Northwest Territories, now the Kivalliq Region of present-day Nunavut between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W...

band, speak a variant of it.

Hunting

The harsh arctic environment that the Netsilik inhabited yielded little plant life, so the Netsilik had to rely on hunting to acquire most of the resources they needed to survive. In the summer months the Netsilik would hunt Caribou on the tundra. The Caribou provided food as well as the hides most commonly used for clothing, although bear skins were also used for clothing when caribou skin was unavailable. Caribou antlers were also extremely important, and the Netsilik made many implements from caribous antler, including the breathing hole probe that was integral for seal hunting. In the winter months the Netsilik would migrate out onto the sea ice where they would fish and hunt seal. Seals also provide the Netsilik with fat for their soapstone lamps, which both lit and heated the Igloos. This made the Netsilik one of the few peoples to hunt for their heating fuel, rather than use wood.

Cultural Change

By 1923, the Netsilik were in possession of firearms, and iron and steel had also begun to replace flint and bone for arrowheads, harpoons, needles, knives and other tools. This made hunting much easier, and the traditional migration patterns of the Netsilik began to change. From the 1930s to the 1960s, Christian missionaries and the Canadian government became more involved in the lives of the Netsilik, who began trading fox pelts in order to generate income to purchase imported goods. The process of acculturation accelerated in the 1960s, with more and more Netsilik converting to Christianity, moving into permanent settlements built from imported materials, taking up wage labor and using government services. Today, the Netsilik essentially do not practice traditional forms of subsistence, although some elders continue to make traditional artifacts such as kayaks and stone tools and trinkets for museums and for sale.