Local Economies of Indigenous People

Geographical Area Time Period The Inuits came to North America in the Old Whaling Period and The Artic Small Tool Trade. Location The Inuit Indians lived in Alaska,Eastern Russia,Bearing Sea islands and parts of Greenland. Mostly they lived in the tundra. Physical features The physical features of the tundra was an end less piece of land that had very few trees and many cliffs.Climate The climate in the tundra was very cold and the sun nearly every went above the horizon.

Dwellings The Inuits dwellings were mostly lean tos or igloos Materials made to make the Igloos were ice and any other hard materials able to make a decent dwelling. Lean-tos were mostly made of ice and sticks found around. The people who lived in a dwelling were usually family and sometimes friends. The unique features of the dwellings were that they had only two rooms a storage room and a living room

Food The inuits got their food mainly by hunting. Some of the animals that the inuits hunted are seals, caribou, and polar bears. The inuits used every part of the animals that they killed except for the lungs. The stomach was sometimes used for a thing to keep their food warm or a canteen.

Food Seal blood was an important food source and could also be made into a sort of chewing gum for the children. The inuits mostly ate their food raw because for most of the year there is no source of fire. Inuits also got their food by ice fishing. Inuits used harpoon guns as a hunting weapon

Rapid development of thermokarst due to tundra degradation

Insulating the permafrost

Aggregate Pads = layers of coarse sand and gravel, typically 1-2m thick that substitute for the insulating layers of vegetation and also reduce the transfer of heat from buildings into the ground below. They are also used beneath roads, railways and airstrips. The thickness of such pads is carefully calculated to maintain the thermal balance of the ground at its natural state. If too thin = permafrost thaws if too thick = increased insulation leads to elevation of permafrost and upward ground heaving!

AVALANCHE FREQUENCY and DISTRIBUTION 1 million per year.

AVALANCHE TYPES Powder snow avalanches Wet snow avalanches Slab avalanches

What can be done? Stop avalanches before they start. Slow them down. Build only in avalanche free areas. Protect buildings. Protect roads, railways, power lines etc. Artificial avalanche control. Warnings

Physical structures used to prevent avalanches (Smith 1992)

CASE STUDY THE ALPS