Traditional Canadian Inuit Weddings

Picture and Video References

Picture 1:http://wearecanadians.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/inuit-people3.jpg

Picture 2:http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GRur8TYOoe8/TPu6hUm9FxI/AAAAAAAAABU/zJ67TFSUTvw/s1600/Inuit+infant+is+carried+by+the+mother%2527s+parka+1940s.+source+corbis.jpg

Picture 3:http://also.kottke.org/misc/images/inuit-1854.jpg

Video 1:http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/places/countries-places/canada-tc/inuit-throat-singing-eorg/

Video 2:http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=inuit+tribute&sm=3

References

Extras

• A man could have more than one wife
• Men wanted plumpness in a wife
• Divorce was not uncommon like in other societies,
• If a wife was unfaithful a man would demand his wedding gifts back and leave

Condon, Richard G. "Inuit Youth in a Changing World." Cultural Survival. Ed. Suzanne Benally. N.p., 22 Feb. 2010. Google . Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/122-summer-1988-hydroelectric-dams-and-indigenous-peoples>.

"A Guide to Inuit Culture ." The Inuit Way. N.p., 2006. Google . Web. 17 Nov. 2013. http://www.uqar.ca/files/boreas/inuitway_e.pdf.

"5000 years of Inuit History and Heritage ." Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. N.p., 4 Nov. 2004. Google. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. <https://www.itk.ca/publication/5000-years-inuit-history-and-heritage>.

Jones, Sydney J. "Inuit ." Countries and Their Cultures. N.p., 2006. Google . Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Ha-La/Inuit.html#b>.

Bellanger, Claude. "Marriage Among Indians." The Quebec History Encyclopedia . N.p., Sept. 2004. Google . Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/IndianMarriage.htm>.

Tanner, Aidrian. "Innu Culture." Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage . N.p., 1999. Google . Web. 18 Nov. 2013. Path: http://www.heritage.nf.ca/aboriginal/innu_culture.html.

"The Inuit ." Canada's First Peoples. Goldi Productions , 2007. Google . Web. 18 Nov. 2013. http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_inuit5.html.

What are the customs of the marriage ceremony and celebration?

• A man would enter his brides camp and "steal" her away
• The girl would then move into her husbands clan and live with them until they made their own home
• There would be throat singing that night and usually a feast of the best foods in season, caribou in the summer and seals in the winter
• The song Inuit Wedding by Sainkho Namtchylak
• http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/places/countries-places/canada-tc/inuit-throat-singing-eorg/

Background Information

• Indigenous people of northern Canada
• Hunter and Gatherers
• Lived in tents in the summer and stone and snow houses in the winter
• The word Inuit meant "the people"
• Related ethnic groups were Cree and Algonquin
• About 50,000 Inuits

Traditional Canadian Inuit Weddings

What are the typical ages of brides and grooms

• Young women were married at their first menstrual period and began giving birth 3 or 4 years later
• Young men were not married until they were 17 or 18 years of age

What role do the parents have in the choice of marriage partner?

How much say do the brides and grooms have in their own wedding?

• Arranged marriages, especially for girls
• Marriages were arranged to bring families together as allies
• If a woman was not arranged a marriage she could find a husband but she would have to get approval from her father

What financial arrangements are involved?

• Within some Inuit tribes marriages between members of the same clan was forbidden
• Girls had no say in who they were to marry
• If boys did not have a marriage arranged for them they could find a wife to marry, only with her fathers permission

• The man would usually present clothing and gifts for his bride
• The parents of the bride would return a gift to the man of equal or greater value
• Men could "rent" a wife, usually for hunting season

What are the planning stages and pre-wedding customs?

• When a girl reaches puberty her parents will contact the arranged family
• The man will present gifts to his bride
• The man must prove himself a good hunter to the girls father and he must approve of his skills