Inuit women
The Inuit are indigenous people who live in the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America (parts of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland).
A young woman was eligible for marriage after puberty, but a man had to prove he was efficient enough in hunting to support a family before he could marry.
Among some Inuit groups, this led to the development of complex tools such as light and powerful metal harpoons and wood stoves, which were being used by the late 1800s.
Inuit children usually began to contribute to the family and community by the age of 12 through activities like picking berries and hunting small game.
The belief that the Inuit regularly resorted to infanticide may be due in part to studies done by Asen Balikci,[23] Milton Freeman,[24] and David Riches[25] among the Netsilik, along with the trial of Kikkik.
According to traditional Inuit beliefs, hiding such a secret would bring bad luck for the camp such as hunger, lack of food, or illness.
These taboos, which were passed down through generations and varied somewhat across geographic regions or camps, informed the woman's behaviors and activities in order to prevent complications, promote a healthy birth, and ensure desired characteristics of the infant.
[30] Another common pittailiniq instructed the woman to massage her stomach until she felt the fetus move so that the baby wouldn't "stick" to the uterus.
When labour and birth were perceived imminent, the woman and/or her attendants would set up a soft bed of caribou skins or heathers nearby.
[29] Additional signs of labour noted by the Inuk midwife included a brown strip of discharge, broken water, stomachache, or the urge to pass a bowel movement.
[32] Although it was cause for great celebration, labour is traditionally a time of quiet and calm in the Inuit community, and the midwife would commonly whisper her counsel to the mother-to-be.
[29] However, the woman played an active role in her own birth experience and was encouraged to follow her body's own physiologic cues regarding pushing and rest.
[34] Once the baby had crowned and was born, the midwife would cut the still-pulsating umbilical cord with a special knife and tie it with caribou sinew.
While breastfeeding, the elders describe the importance of keeping the breasts warm to prevent cracking and drinking broth for nutrition.
[28] The birth of a newborn into the camp is cause for widespread celebration in the community and everyone, including children, would shake hands at its arrival.
[29] The exposed cord stump was then covered with burnt arctic moss and the infant was placed in a rabbit fur or cloth pouch, sewn by the sinaji.
Traditional Inuit midwives describe that the first stool (meconium) should be observed outside the womb, as it could cause clotting and complications if left in the mother.
[citation needed] Also occurring immediately after birth, a designated person, often the midwife, felt the infant's genitalia to determine its gender.
[36] In rare instances, the child might be considered sipiniq (Inuktitut: ᓯᐱᓂᖅ), meaning the infant is believed to have changed their physical sex from male to female at the moment of birth.
[40] Performed by the sanaji or midwife, the tuqurausiq was the highly-valued naming practice that linked the child to a relative or deceased family friend.
Given this belief, it was also considered inappropriate to tell an infant or child what to do, as it was similar to commanding an elder or another adult, which violated social rule in Inuit culture.
The clothing was created by the careful sewing of animal skins and furs using ivory needles, which were highly valuable in Inuit society.
[7] In addition to this, the households that Inuit women were expected to help construct and care for could range from igloos, to semi-subterranean sod houses, to tents in the summer months.
Although women had a relatively high position socially,[9] and had significant control of their own home, as well as ceremonially important jobs such as lighting and tending to lamps and distributing food,[13] their power was usually limited to those areas.
Women started by finding work as domestic servants, store clerks, hospital aides, classroom assistants, interpreters, and in weaving and knitting shops.
This has caused men to assume responsibilities in the house that were traditionally done by the women, such as raising children and keeping the home in order.
As the primary wage earners, working women are now considered the heads of their families and have the upper hand in making decisions for them.
Some men have begun to resent women for "stealing their rightful place as the head of the family"[7] and may turn to drinking and/or drug abuse to deal with these issues.
Although the positions they seek are often at the community and local levels, this increase in activism reflects the new confidence Inuit women have found in the modern world.
[42] More likely explanations include a change in diet after modernization, a decrease in physical activity as traditional jobs such as hunting and constructing homes are practised less, or exposure to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
