Inuit history: climatic change and historical connections in Arctic Canada AD 1000-1900

The Inuit of Arctic Canada and Greenland have long been known to derive from an eastward migration of their Alaskan ancestors. This movement of Thule culture Inuit has generally been interpreted as a response to climatic warming during the centuries around 1000 AD, and ancestral Inuit are thought to have moved into an uninhabited territory or one that was sparsely occupied by a remnant Dorset culture aboriginal population. The subsequent development of Inuit society and culture in Arctic Canada and Greenland is considered to have been influenced primarily by a cooling climate that began during the thirteenth century and culminated between the seventeenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. It has been generally assumed that Inuit culture developed in relative isolation, and primarily through processes of adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Recent discoveries suggest a much more complex picture of Arctic history during the past millennium, and the International Polar Year provides a timely opportunity to assemble several research projects that are contributing to different aspects of this perspective. A re-interpretation of Arctic history now appears to be essential. and must incorporate consideration of the following recent developments: