Does anyone here know anything about a myth "told by traditional people across the Arctic" that "describes a totemic marriage between a woman and a beluga whale" named Keiko? There is said to be a Yakut Siberian version and a version from Hudson Bay.

I found it on these sites:

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20210126140240/http://www.interspecies.com/pages/beluga%20spiral.html
2. https://www.earthintransition.org/2012/09/believing-in-belugas/
3. http://www.hills.ca/Native-Symbols-21.html#Beluga%20Whale

I'm trying to figure out:

Is this an actual myth?

Where in the Arctic is this told and by whom?

Where does the name "Keiko" come from and what does it mean?

Anything else that is known about it.

(Also posted to ​Mythology, Sakha_Yakut, ​Indigenous, Karelia)

Hi! I have been looking into my families ancestry and learning about our past and I did the Ancestry and GED test to help. It shows I have „Indigenous American Arctic“ and „Indigenous American North“ When I look into the Arctic one and the locations in shows Alaska and some in Canada. I’m not for sure on everything with it, but there are some stories my great grandmother told me about her dads family coming from the Inuit, but she also doesn’t know much besides that. If anyone can help explain more or where else I can try to find more that would be great

Hello there everyone, I'm looking to get a new piercing and I am wondering whether the vertical labret piercing (a silver ring on the middle of the bottom lip) may be perceived as cultural appropriation by native Inuit or descendants of atzek or mayan people, on a white guy like me.

What do you think?

Just was curious

hi! i am a character designer brainstorming an idea for a 2d fighting game with 50 fighters, one from each us state. id like alaska’s fighter to be inuk. i’m not inuk, so i was wondering if anyone had any ideas that could form the basis of an inuk and/or alaskan fighter? my one idea right now is that id like them to wear the snow goggles, cause they look hard as fuck

EDIT thanks so much for the advice. my first step probably should’ve been to research on my own rather than going to ask people right away while i am uninformed

I recently discovered family members that live in Chukchi Russia, and are Inuit, and have relatives in Alaska as well. I’ve been on a genealogy hunt for a while now, and after talking with these relatives, hearing their stories, everything in between, and one conversation led to another they asked me about letting them tattoo me. I am not against at all, and want to honor my newfound culture appropriately, also want to do so respectfully. I’ve been trying to find references on the meanings of different tattoos(both face and body) and have had little success. I would like to get my hands tattooed. Any thoughts?

Hello, I will be joining my family on a cruise up the Alaskan coast this summer, during the first week of July. I don’t get to travel far outside my home state (Florida) very often, but when I do, I aim my travel experiences towards gaining more understanding of the place I am visiting and the people from there, as well as admiring the local landscape. I know a cruise isn’t the most ideal way to travel around Alaska, giving me very little time actually on shore, and I am certainly aware that a giant ship full of tourists isn’t always a positive thing. But due to my own personal circumstances, this cruise is the only opportunity available to me for the foreseeable future.

That being said, I would like to learn as much as I can about the indigenous peoples, their history, and their culture. I will be visiting Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan; although, I’ll only have a few hours to spend in each town. If anyone has any recommendations for informative and culturally respectful places or experiences, I would greatly appreciate it. Reading material or resources that I can start on now are welcome too! Thank you.

Aanii

I'm an anishnabekwe looking to get specifically a finger tattoo (two bands one thicker one thinner) around my left thumb. I just am reaching out to this subreddit and a few others to make sure I am not taking smth to put on myself that I shouldn't, for my people we mainly did them for beauty but I know there's stories connected to them as well.

Guidance appreciated.

Chi miigwetch.

Good Afternoon Reddit! I recently came into possession of a few trays of supposed Inuit artifacts made from carved bone. The only thing I have to go off of are the notes provided with the trays. Google searches just point me towards appraisers which I don't want at this time. Does anyone know or have a source for authenticating objects like this? Any help you could provide would be very much appreciated!

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https://preview.redd.it/dhb0a9z4acpc1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07ddfab2b71bbdef81d784446012e373cd3edaa9

https://preview.redd.it/ey5wubz4acpc1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=959c6817739c1b82bb3ad2ef42b5baad26a6c637

https://preview.redd.it/3822maz4acpc1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=660372056d2ad38edc3e563e26ea4f31e2210339

Hi there! I am writing a piece for Inuit Art Quarterly and wondered if anyone here has contacts to Uriash Puqiqnak or his family. Nakurmiik!

I'm an inuk living as far south as the Canada/US border, so I don't know much about my people or inuit in general. Can anyone let me know where I can learn my language? I want to reintegrate into inuit life and undo assimilation. I'm inquiring about learning inuvialuktun particularly as I am inuvialuit of the west arctic coast, and I heard that was the dialect they speak there. Thank-you!

Hello! Some time ago i found out I'm inuk through my family, but they grew up very Christian in a congregation which forced them to stop practicing our inuk traditions. I don't have any contact with my family anymore so I don't really have anyone I can ask about traditions and so on. I was wondering if some kind people could maybe share this with me? I'm now married and I want to start practicing more of my culture so I can share it with my future family ❤️

Hey , Is there a way to know exactly witch Inuit Tribe i am from? asking bcuz i recently found out that i am one thanks

Can the mods create flairs for us inuks, so we can identify ourselves. Like have regional names for people's origins. Like a Baffin island/Qikiqtaalukmiut or nunavik flair :p but use our terminology for sure. Lotsa ideas

Hi, I recently found out about my ancestry that I've been searching my whole life with DNA tests and found out I'm Inuit. My family never knew where we came from, having lived in Eastern Europe for several generations. Because of this, I never knew why I didn't look like a typical Eastern European or Russian man, but now it all makes sense when I look in the mirror with this information. I am here to ask for the help of anyone with Inuit ancestry who might be able to help me understand more about my Inuit roots. I'm curious because there isn't much information on the internet in general. I am interested in male Inuit tattoos that were made traditionally, diet, lifestyle, history, traditions. I am asking for help on this journey to find "Home". The only thing that has been passed down through the generations is a ring with some symbols on it, so I don't know what that even means. Many thanks!

UPDATE :

I've read a few articles about Inuit traits like eyes and why I thought I was Asian but I actually have a "second" layer of eyelids, which makes a lot more sense now. I have also read that the Inuit do not see the color "white" as clearly as "normal" people. Every time I go skiing I always swear at the brown filter of the ski goggles that I can't see shit in them and I had my "white" European friend tried them and said he could see fine in them , and now I see that my eyes were genetically that way .I can't see white so Brightly as others , and I can't see anything in the dark filters. Also a very strange thing in my family is that we have very strong legs, idk why that is but it might have something to do with the inuit. Also my Family name is said to be pronounced in English as "Lynxis" maybe something to do with a Lynx .

Alse here is a link of a screenshot as "evidence"

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ec3riZIDDyT9-cSrZIK0Dr4_X5TAydk7/view?usp=sharing

Are there any books or sources that you would recommend?

Thanks again.

Hello everyone. I purchased this piece of art I really love at a thrift store in Nova Scotia Canada, and I’m curious if anyone here could point me toward some resources that might help me find out more about it. Some things about it I know so far:

• It is in a custom Micheals Frame, with no further information on the back

-Seems to be made of wool or felt, but I can’t be 100% sure

-The piece itself is about 1.5ft wide by 2.5 ft tall

• My (probably incorrect) translation of the signature at the bottom I think reads “Monica” and I have been searching the internet for indigenous artists with the name Monica with no hits yet.

I suppose I am just hoping to either figure out who the maker of this piece is, or just some general info about where it might have come from. If I’m appreciating it in my home I would like to know more about it if I can!

Thanks in advance for any answers 😊

I went on a walk today and found a little piece of cariboo skin with fur. How do I preserve it? Do I need to treat it in some way or can I just let it dry?

I am seeking knowledge on a situation that happened between my wife and a member of her TikTok community. My wife (Samoan & Tongan / Polynesian) is a huge Star Wars fan and does cosplays all the time. She was very excited for the release of the final season of The Bad Batch, so she did a video of her favorite cosplays, one of them being a Clone Trooper named Hardcase. She was informed by a member of her community that the Hardcase cosplay was offensive and cultural appropriation. The comment specifically was, "Chin lines are closed practice for the Inuit People and are not acceptable even within cosplay." My wife removed the video out of respect because she did not want to offend anybody, and because she understands the sacredness of cultural practices. I am coming here to ask further questions and get better knowledge. I want to be respectful of others' cultures. One of the reasons I fell in love with my wife is because of how much I love the Polynesian cultures, and I want to be respectful of your culture and practices.

I have limited knowledge of the many different practices of the Inuit People. I have limited understanding if Hardcase's tattoos sparked criticism from Inuit People in the past (from my Google searches, I was unable to find any). What I do have are theories based on the knowledge I have of Polynesian culture. Hardcase is a clone of Jango Fett, which would imply that Hardcase's likeness would be based on New Zealand Māori actor Temuera Morrison. It would make sense that Hardcase's tattoo would be more inspired by the Māori Tā moko, which is a facial tattoo.

Very long-winded, I am sorry. Do you feel Hardcase's tattoos are culturally appropriated from the Inuit People?

If at any point I have been insensitive, please inform me. I want to be informed. I want to be as respectful as possible. Thank you for any responses I do get, and thank you for your time.

https://preview.redd.it/euod27vcjskc1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=482c983b7ec64eef2e6f3763bb5036d8804f2eda

Hello, I would like to buy a work by Henry Napartuk, entitled "Eskimo Returning from the Hunt," for my friend. She loves Inuit art very much. I know the term Eskimo is an inappropriate, offensive word, but i'd like to know if is it also inappropriate and offensive to display art that has the word on it if it was written by the artist? I don't want to do the wrong thing. I'd like to thank you in advance. I may not get the chance to reply in good time, as I've not been in the greatest place and I'm not online very often. I appreciate your input and I hope your day is good.

https://youtu.be/PIKfElrGVn4?si=Ctm8NEhk-w-b3myj

Hello, I am a nursing student

If you have time, I have a few questions about Inuit culture.I am interested in learning more about Inuit Shamanism and their diet practices. Particularly, what we, as health care providers, should avoid when planning their diet.

Are there any taboos or customs we should be especially mindful about? Are there any reading materials about the subject that you could recommend?

​

Thank you for your time

Hi, I'm not an inuit but I'd like to know what some words are for certain animals. I know there's different variations of the inuit language but I'm looking specifically for the words used by the inuit of Alaska.

The animals are:

Moose, Grizzly bear, Black bear, Deer, Wolf, Great horned owl, Caribou.

Also what the plural will be for each of these words. Many thanks.