In the Arctic Circle far away from us, there are "legendary" Eskimos, and in that icy place, how they survive has aroused more and more people's attention and discussion.
The legendary primitive barbarism, eating raw meat, polygamy... Is it a reflection of their real lives?
01
The Eskimos don't actually agree with what they call them, because the word Eskimo is a raw meat eater in the Indian language.
In the long history, Indians and Eskimos have always had racial contradictions, so such a title is obviously pejorative.
So what should we call the Eskimos? They prefer that people refer to themselves by The Inuit.
This nation, which has always been shrouded in ridicule and belittling by the Indians, actually has its own wisdom and culture like us, and is not barbaric.
Before the 19th century, the Eskimos still retained a primitive way of life, with men in the family responsible for hunting, while women were sewing and mending, washing and washing, and taking care of all the housework.
In the cold Arctic, plant resources are scarce and valuable, because most of the time the land is covered with snow and ice.
For warmth, the Eskimos would also make fires, but they used extremely valuable seal oil, which also led them to form a habit of eating raw food.
Perhaps in our opinion, eating raw food is difficult to accept, but in fact, raw food retains vitamins very well, so while the Eskimos eat raw meat, they not only supplement the supply of meat, but also do not make the body lack vitamins.
It is precisely because they habitually cook rice with animal fat, keep warm with animal fur, and directly feed on organisms, so they will leave everyone with the image of a wild man who drinks blood.
But this has a lot to do with the environment in which they live, because they simply do not have the conditions to live the same life as us.
02
The Eskimos also had different food in different seasons, hunting reindeer and catching salmon in the summer and seals in the winter.
It's just that in the Arctic, it's not easy to get food, and in extremely harsh environments, many people will starve to death.
In order to survive better, the Eskimos would live together in small groups, because only by relying on the strength of everyone could it be possible to catch a seal and jointly resist it when the polar bear invaded.
When a man brings the seals home from a hunt, the women get busy.
Because seals have a high body temperature, if they are hunted and then delayed in cooking, their remains will become cold and difficult to cut.
Sharing food is a characteristic of the Eskimos, a large seal, which is divided into many small pieces by them and given to different families next to them.
This kind of mutual help is actually for everyone to survive better, because no one can guarantee that they can gain every hunt, so sharing can allow more people to survive.
The women of the Eskimo are very capable, they learn needlework from an early age, and they use a pair of skillful hands to make boots for men, so that they can keep their feet comfortable even after long journeys.
At the same time, cooking is also their best skill, of course, to some extent, it is also a role that women have to take on at home.
Eskimo is generally monogamous, but if you want to marry two wives, it is also allowed in Eskimo, but this will have certain requirements for a man's hunting ability, otherwise it is impossible to bear the ration problem of two wives.
Eskimo men sometimes follow in the footsteps of their prey, and wives in the family usually move with them.
But if, because of some special circumstances, the wife cannot be taken away, then the men will leave the wife to their friends to take care of them.
During the time when the man is not at home, the wife can have sex with friends, so there is a polygamous statement.
But this is only a minority in Eskimos after all, but there are still people who feel that such an approach is inappropriate, and even violates ethics and morality.
But if you think about it from the perspective of the Eskimos, their behavior is also a helpless move.
Living in such a harsh environment, without any legal system, people who want to survive must huddle together for warmth and rely on their other half.
In the face of life, everything is insignificant, so the only polygamy is the product of this situation.
summary
However, today's society is developing very rapidly, and exchanges between ethnic groups have become more and more frequent.
Now the Eskimos have lived in their own houses like modern people, have their own civilization, and no longer wear furs to resist the cold, and naturally bid farewell to hunting.
As for polygamy, it is long gone in Eskimo, and with the rapid development of the times, their concept of marriage and love is also advancing with the times.
While we recognize cultural differences, we must also learn to tolerate and accept, so that our society will be more progressive.
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