ABSTRACT

The Netsilik Eskimos inhabit a vast area over 300 miles in length and over 100 miles in depth north and west of Hudson Bay. This chapter describes the adaptive processes that can be best understood in relation to the almost continuous ecological pressure to which the Netsilik were subjected. Ecological pressure is one phase of the general adaptive process and implies diminution of food availability, and increased difficulty in securing a livelihood. Netsilik technology consists of four major complexes, on the basis of the raw materials utilized: the snow-ice complex, the skin complex, the bone complex, and the stone complex. Netsilik technology is thus adaptive in two ways: first, through the ingenious manufacture of a large number of specialized artifacts from a small number of locally available raw materials; and second, in reference to the adaptive features of the finished artifacts related to specific environmental conditions.