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Thule
Beginning around 800 to a thousand years ago, the ancestors of
today's Inuit began migrating into Canada from Arctic Alaska.
Archaeologists call these earliest Canadian Inuit, the
"Thule" (pronounced tooley), after a place in Greenland
where their archaeological remains were first discovered. The Thule
Inuit were superb hunters, particularly adept at hunting sea
mammals, including seal, walrus, beluga, and even the huge bowhead
whale. They had a sophisticated tool kit, with a complex range of
hunting equipment utilizing bows and arrows, harpoons and
harpooning gear, and kayaks. Manufacturing gear included adzes, bow
drills and snow-knives.The Thule employed a variety of knives for
cutting up game animals, scrapers for working hides, sewing gear,
snow goggles, combs, lamps and pots, amulets, toys and games. All
have been wonderfully preserved in the permanently frozen soils of
the far north.
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