many of them drive snowmobiles, not dog sleds.

That
means they don't have nearly as many dogs to feed.

But they still like to eat caribou meat and use the
skins for clothes. And masks are still important to
them.

THE CARIBOU
Today most Eskimos need about four caribou a
year to survive.
AND THE ESKIMO

The male caribou are usually much bigger than the
female caribou. And they have more fat. That's why
the Eskimos like to kill the males more than the
females.

They also know that the females are needed to have
the babies. Without them, there will be no more
caribou in the future.
You might think that this relationship is only good
for the Eskimo. But it is good for the caribou too.
If there are too many caribou, there won't be
enough grass for them to eat. When that happens, the
caribou starve.


They won't have enough to eat to keep them fat
through the winter. Without the fat they would freeze
to death.

By Caitlind L. Alexander

Many more of them would die than are killed by
the Eskimo.

So the caribou need the Eskimo. And the Eskimo
need the caribou. And together they both survive.



A LearningIsland.org

15 Minute Book

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The Caribou and the Eskimo
19
Editor: Jennifer Robinson



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Antlers and Bones


The antlers and bones of the caribou would be
carved with pictures. They would also be used to make
knives.
Copyright 2004 LearningIsland.org. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in
any retrieval system, or transmitted by any form or any
means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise without written permission of the publisher.
Some bones would be sharpened into points to
make harpoons. With a good bone harpoon, an Eskimo
could kill a whale. The whale meat and fat would help
feed him and his dogs.
If you have paid any amount of money for this book, it is a
violation of copyright laws. Please contact us at
LearningIsland@yahoo.com.
Caribou bones were also carved into fish hooks.
These were used to catch fish and seals.
The Eskimos also used the other parts of the
caribou.
The Caribou and the Eskimo/Caitlind L. Alexander
Summary: A brief look at the relationship between the
caribou and the Eskimo.
The teeth were used to make necklaces and other
decorations.
1. Caribou. J uvenile Literature. 2. Eskimo. J uvenile
Literature.



Created in USA
Eskimos and Caribou Today


RL: 3.9
The Eskimos still depend on the caribou a lot. But
much has changed.
W: 1964
Now Eskimos don't need as much caribou meat.
They live in wood houses instead of caribou tents. And

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Fat

In the fall the caribou has a think layer of fat under
his skin. This helps to keep him warm during the
winter.
The Eskimo loved to eat this fat. They would eat it
raw.
For a treat they would make akutuq. They would
whip the fat and mix it with cooked caribou meat. It
made a wonderful dish that was like ice cream.
They would also burn the fat in a dish. This is what
they used to light their tents at night.




The Caribou and the Eskimo
3



There is a very close relationship between the
caribou and the Eskimo. The Eskimos need the caribou
to survive. And the caribou need the Eskimos.
A caribou is a fur covered animal. It looks like a
reindeer. In fact, reindeer are part of the caribou
family.
Caribou have nice thick fur. The fur is made of
hairs that are hollow. This traps air inside. That helps
to keep them warm even when the air is very cold
outside.
The air in the hairs also helps them to float when
they swim.
Their fur is mostly brown. But many have white
spots on their chest and belly. During the winter the
caribou grow very thick fur coats. In the summer they
will shed the hair so their fur is lighter.

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The Caribou and the Eskimo
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Caribou have very large hooves.
These help them walk on the snow.
They also help the caribou to swim.
Caribou click when they walk. The
sound is made by their hoofs. This
sound can be heard a couple hundred
yards away. When huge herds of
caribou walk together, the sound can
become very loud.
Caribou hooves are hard on the
ground. They cut into the dirt. A caribou trail will stay
in the dirt for years and years. This can help them to
find the way back to the same place the next year.



To make sure that he always had strong dogs, many
Eskimos would have two or three teams of dogs.
They would also have puppies that they were
raising. These puppies would take the place of the
other dogs when they got old.
That meant that there were a lot of dogs to feed.
And they all liked caribou meat.


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The Eskimos would follow the caribou trails. They
knew these trails were safe to walk on.
Male caribou have very large antlers. They can
grow to be up to five feet long! Every year the males
will shed their antlers.
This meat would not only feed the Eskimos.
Caribou meat was used to feed their dogs.
Many female caribou also have antlers, but they are
not as big.
Most Eskimos traveled across the snow and ice by
dogsled. This meant they needed strong, healthy dogs.
Caribou grow to be about seven or eight feet long.
And they can be four feet tall at the shoulder. They can
weigh up to 700 pounds.
To stay healthy, the dogs needed a lot of meat. A
hard working dog could eat a couple pounds of caribou
meat a day. And most dog sleds had at least eight dogs
to pull them.
Caribou have four long, skinny legs. But the legs
are strong. They can kick hard enough to kill another

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animal. They also help the caribou to run. They can
run up to 40 miles and hour.
To dry the meat they would cut it into thin strips.
Then they would hang it up on lines. It would stay
there for several days until it had dried out. Most male caribou are bigger than female caribou.
And the ones that live more to the north are smaller
than those that live more to the south.
Once the meat was completely dried, it wouldn't
spoil. They could keep it for several months, or even
for several years. Caribou live in groups called herds. Herds can be
as small as 50 members. But most of them are larger.
Some of the largest herds have over 240,000 members.
Some of the muscle meat from the back would also
be cut off. It would be separated into thin threads and
used to sew their clothes. Males will fight with each other every year. This
fight decides who the most important male in the herd
is.

They usually fight during the fall. Sometimes a
caribou will fight so hard that he uses up all his stored
fat. Then he might starve to death over the winter.
Because of the fighting, most females live longer
than males. Females often live to be 15 years old.
Males often live to be 10 years old.


What Do Caribou Eat?

Caribou like to eat grass. In the summer there is a
lot of grass. In the fall they will eat a lot. This fattens
them up for winter.

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The Caribou and the Eskimo
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The dried face would then be taken off the wood
and decorated.
In the winter the caribou will dig through the snow
to get grass. They can smell the grass under the snow.
Hair from a caribou leg would make a good
mustache and beard. The long mane hair around a
male caribou's neck made long hair for a woman's
mask.
Caribou will also eat leaves from the willow and
birch trees. They also eat mushrooms and roots. When
they are hungry they will eat the bark off trees.

Then the outside of the mask would be wrapped in
long fur. This made it look like an Eskimo peeking out
from a fur coat.

These masks are still used today. And many
Eskimo make them to sell to tourists.


Meat

Caribou meat was also important to the Eskimos. It
was one of the main things they ate.
When a hunter killed a caribou, he would bring the
meat back to the village. They would eat some of it
raw. Some of it they would cook and eat.
A raw kidney is considered a delicacy. It is one of
the Eskimos favorite foods.

But most of the meat was dried. They needed to
keep it for the times when there were no caribou.

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The Caribou and the Eskimo
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But one of the biggest uses of caribou hide was for
tents. The Eskimo traveled with the caribou. That
meant they needed homes that were easy to move.
They would build tents of the caribou hide. Soft
willow branches would be put inside to help hold it in
the right shape.
Eskimo tents were large enough for a whole family.

Masks

Many Eskimo people also used the caribou hide for
masks. Masks are an important part of Eskimo culture.
They use them in many ceremonies.
To make a mask, the women would clip the hair
very close to the skin. They try to get as much hair as
possible off the hide.
Then they soak the hide in tea. This gives it a
golden brown color. That way it will look like Eskimo
skin.
Like many Native American tribes, the Eskimos
believed in only killing what they needed. And they
would use as much of the animal as they could. None
of it would go to waste.
When it was ready, the woman would clamp the
skins onto a face made of wood. The wet skin would
stretch. And it would be pulled tight.
For centuries the Eskimo people have followed the
caribou. They would travel to the winter and summer
grounds with them.
When the skin dried, it would become hard again.
It would stay in the shape of the face.

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The Caribou and the Eskimo
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With a nice caribou skin blanket as well, you could
take off your heavy clothes when you went to bed.
That way you could sleep in comfort.
There are many stories of Eskimos who got caught
in a blizzard. They survived by eating their caribou
skin mattress.
Many of the Eskimo's clothes were made of
caribou skin. It would keep them warm and dry, just
like it had the caribou.



Eskimos would often catch the caribou with a
"caribou fence." This is a long line of piles of sod. Sod
is dirt and grass.
These sod piles would be shaped to look like men.
They would scare the caribou and send them in one
direction.



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At the end of the caribou fence the Eskimo hunters
were waiting. When the caribou came, they would kill
as many as they could carry or use.
When they had no teeth left, they could not chew
their food. Then they knew they were old and it was
time for them to die.

The Fur

The fur was often used by Eskimos to make tents,
clothes and other items.
The Eskimos would carefully remove the hide from
the caribou. They would cut down the middle of the
belly and down each leg.
Then they would use sharp, curved knives called
ulus to separate the skin from the meat and fat. They
would cut as close to the skin as they could. But they
were careful not to cut the skin itself.
Then they would lay the skin out on the ground.
The Eskimo women would use a sharp knife to scrape
away all the fat from the skin.
If there was any fat on the skin, it would not dry
right. It could even rot. So it was important to get
every little bit of fat from the skin.

Once they fat was gone, they would stretch the hide
between stakes they had pounded in the ground.

Once the hide was ready, it would be used for
many things. A caribou skin mattress was the best to
sleep on. It would keep you warm even in the coldest
weather.
They would leave it there for several days until it
dried. But when it dried, it got stiff. So the Eskimo
women would soften it.
One way to soften it is by chewing on it. This
would wear down the teeth of the women. Older
Eskimo women often had very short teeth.

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