The InuitThe Inuit are the northernmost inhabitants of North America. The name INUIT and Eskimo is given to the population of the Arctic region and the region from eastern Siberia to Greenland. The Inuit have been called "Eskimos", but they actually prefer to be called Inuit. The word Inuit means "people who are alive at this time." Inuit also refers to the group of people of "Eskimo" origin, living in northern Canada. The word "Eskimo" means "raw meat eaters" - and nowadays it is offensive to use this term. "Eskimo" is a word that comes from CREE. It is a term that honors the ability of this group of people to survive in a harsh climate, living exclusively on the products of hunting. There were several "Eskimo" cultures that arrived in the Canadian Arctic at different times. Some of the early culture names were Paleo-Eskimo, Arctic Small Tool Tradition (which included Independence I, Pre-Dorset, Denbigh Flint Complex – which came from Alaska), and Saqqaq (which came from Greenland). By 1700 BC, pre-Dorset Inuit settled northern Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Fox Basin. They used snow houses, soapstone lamps, bows, movable harpoon heads and spears for fish and birds. Pre-Dorset Inuit used dogs for packing and hunting. The Inuit at that time did not use them to pull sleds. The Inuit of Dorset had to change their life techniques based on hunting seals and mammals because around 1800 BC the climate in the Arctic became colder. The Inuit of the eastern Arctic have long known this people as the Tuint. From the earliest days of the Pre-Dorset and Dorset peoples who moved across the Arctic in the first millennium BC, they left a record of their... medium of paper... a game. No such music has ever been a form of worship. The Inuit used music only for their own personal entertainment. There are several Inuit languages, all similar enough that speakers of one can usually understand those of another. There are dozens of different dialects, which differ in pronunciation and structure. The Eastern Arctic language is "Inukitut". This language uses symbols to represent different sounds. Missionaries working in Labrador and Baffin Island developed a system inspired by Pittman's shorthand. Before Confederation in 1949, "Inukitut" was the language of everyday life and children were educated in their language. Inuit art is beautiful. They made sculptures, jewelry, baskets, tapestries, dolls and clothes. Most of their carvings were made from whale bone, walrus tusk, and soapstone.