Tunumiit or Iivit are

Greenlandic Inuit Greenlanders ( kl, Kalaallit / Tunumiit / Inughuit; da, Grønlændere) are people identified with Greenland or the indigenous people, the Greenlandic Inuit (''Grønlansk Inuit''; Kalaallit, Inughuit, and Tunumiit). This connection may be r ...

from Tunu or Kangia, the eastern part of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

. The Tunumiit live now mainly in

Tasiilaq Tasiilaq, formerly Ammassalik and Angmagssalik, is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,985 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Gree ...

and Ittoqqortoormiit and are a part of the Arctic people known collectively as the

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territorie ...

. The singular for Tunumiit is Tunumiu. Besides the Tunumiit, who live in the eastern portion of Greenland, Northern and Western Greenlanders are called Inughuit and

Kalaallit Kalaallit make up the largest group of the Greenlandic Inuit and are concentrated in Kitaa. It is also a contemporary term in the Greenlandic language for the indigenous people living in Greenland (Greenlandic ''Kalaallit Nunaat'').Hessel, 8 Th ...

, respectively. About 80% to 88% of Greenland's population, or approximately 44,000 to 50,000 people, identify as being Inuit.Hessel, 20

Language

The Tunumiit language, also called East Greenlandic or Tunumiit oraasiat natively, is dialect of Greenlandic. (The official language of Greenland is a different dialect of Greenlandic,

Kalaallisut Kalaallisut may refer to: * Greenlandic language * West Greenlandic West Greenlandic ( da, vestgrønlandsk), also known as Kalaallisut, is the primary language of Greenland and constitutes the Greenlandic language, spoken by the vast majority of ...

; the Inughuit speak

Inuktun Inuktun ( en, Polar Inuit, kl, avanersuarmiutut, da, nordgrønlandsk, polarinuitisk, thulesproget) is the language of approximately 1,000 indigenous Inughuit (Polar Inuit), inhabiting the world's northernmost settlements in Qaanaaq and the su ...

, which is more closely related to

Inuktitut Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...

, an Eskimo–Aleut language spoken in Northern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, especially in

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost 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'' ...

Region

The Eastern Inuit, or Tunumiit, live primarily in the Ammassalik region, the area with the mildest climate in King Christian IX Land. Hunters can hunt marine mammals from

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each s ...

s throughout the year. Ittoqqortoormiit was a settlement founded in 1925 by Ejnar Mikkelsen in Scoresby Sound. 80 Inuit settlers—70 persons from

and four families from western Greenland—were brought there by ship. The area has vestiges of former habitation, but it had been uninhabited for about a century at the time of the foundation of the new settlement. There were two other Eastern Greenland groups in the long coast between

Nunap Isua Cape Farewell ( kl, Nunap Isua; da, Kap Farvel) is a headland on the southern shore of Egger Island, Nunap Isua Archipelago, Greenland. As the southernmost point of the country, it is one of the important landmarks of Greenland. Geography L ...

(Cape Farewell) to King Frederick VIII Land, the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

in Kangerlussuaq Fjord and adjacent areas up to

Clavering Island Clavering Island ( da, Clavering Ø) is a large island in eastern Greenland off Gael Hamke Bay, to the south of Wollaston Foreland. The Eskimonaes ''(Eskimonæs)'' radio and weather station was on this island. It was staffed by Danish scientists ...

, north of the Tunumiit, and the Southeast-Greenland Inuit in the

King Frederick VI Coast King Frederick VI Coast ( da, Kong Frederik VI Kyst) is a major geographic division of Greenland. It comprises the coastal area of Southeastern Greenland in Sermersooq and Kujalleq municipalities fronting the Irminger Sea of the North Atlantic ...

to the south, but these are now extinct.

Art

An ''

angakkuq The Inuit angakkuq (plural: ''angakkuit'', Inuktitut syllabics ᐊᖓᑦᑯᖅ or ᐊᖓᒃᑯᖅ; Inuvialuktun: '; kl, angakkoq, pl. ''angakkut'') is an intellectual and spiritual figure in Inuit culture who corresponds to a medicine man. Oth ...

'' or spirit healer named Mitsivarniannga from

Ammassalik Island Ammassalik Island ( da, Ammassalik Ø) is an island in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland, with an area of .

created a '' tupilaq'' "evil spirit object," for a visiting European in 1905. When no harm befell him for creating and showing this object to an outsider, others began making ''tupilait'', which evolved into a popular art form.Nacheva, Velina
"An average artistic day in Greenland."
''The Sofia Echo.'' November 29, 2001. Accessed 3 February 2014. Residents also carved Ammassalik wooden maps, that traced the Eastern Greenlandic coastline. Customary art-making practices thrive on Ammassalik Island.

Notes

References

* Hessel, Ingo. ''Arctic Spirit.'' Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 2006 *

Carl Koldewey Carl Christian Koldewey (26 October 1837 – 17 May 1908) was a German Arctic explorer. He led both German North Polar Expeditions. Life and career Koldewey was the son of merchant Johann Christian Koldewey and his wife Wilhelmine Meyer. Koldewey ...

, The German Arctic Expedition of 1869-1870: Narrative of the Wreck of the Hansa in the Ice.''

External links

"Inuit Man in Kulusuk, Speaking Tunumiit Oraasiat (Eastern Greenlandic),"
YouTube video
The Prehistory of Inuit in Northeast Greenland - Arctic Anthropology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tunumiit Indigenous peoples in the Arctic Greenlandic Inuit people Inuit groups

Language

Region

Art

See also

Notes

References

External links