"The Far North" is the name we often give to the Arctic Ocean and the lands that border it.
A little of the land of the Arctic is forested, but most of it is tundra.
The polar bear is the arctic animal that people know best.
It is well fitted for living in the Arctic because its white coat matches the colour of ice and snow.
But there are many other interesting animals living in the Far North.
The musk oxen, for example, form a tight circle to protect the females and the young when they are attacked.
Their horns are very dangerous to wolves and hunters who threaten them.
Not many people live in the Far North.
In Alaska, Canada and Greenland there are Eskimos.
In Europe there are Lapps, and in Asia other peoples.
The word Eskimo (meaning "eaters of raw meat") is not an Eskimo word.
They prefer to be called the Inuit, which means the "real people".
Most Eskimos have traditionally lived by fishing and hunting (seals, walrus, and whales).
Some of them kept herds of reindeer.
Reindeer were among the Eskimo’s most valuable animals.
They were strong and could pull sledges.
Reindeer also provided milk and meat for Eskimos.
Traditionally, almost all parts of the animals killed for food by Eskimos were used.
Skins of different animals, for example, were used for clothing.
The fat was used for fuel, and the walrus tusks were carved into tools.
When the ice melted, Eskimos took to the water for hunting and fishing.
They used harpoons to kill seals, which they hunted either on the ice or
from skin-covered, one-person canoes known as kayaks.
Whales were hunted from larger boats called umiaks.
The types of Eskimos' homes varied according to the location and the time of year.
Villages of stone houses existed in Greenland; along the Siberian shore houses were made of wood and earth.
The igloo (from an Eskimo word meaning "home") was made of packed snow and
ice.
It was used only during the winter as a temporary "snow house", when
villages of igloos were built on the firm ocean ice to make seal hunting
through holes in the ice easier.
Everywhere Eskimos depended on the dog sledge as a means of winter transportation.
The sledge was drawn by 2 to 14 huskies and was usually made from wood.
Technology has changed life for the Inuit.
Dog sledges have been replaced by snowmobiles, the harpoon by the rifle and the igloo by houses.