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[Biomes - Living Worlds] :: Impact :: Tundra :: Social Effects
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Social Impact |
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For thousands of years humans have successfully inhabited and survived living in arctic regions like the tundra. Anthropologists believe that the first humans came to the tundra in North America from Asia over the Bering land Bridge some 11,000 to 40,000 years ago. These American Indians crossed the bridge and went south. After the last Ice Age ended, these people traveled north into Alaska, perhaps following the caribou. Later, about 10,000 years ago, another group called the Inuit (popularly called Eskimos) traveled over the land bridge into Alaska. Today, many native people still inhabit these arctic regions. They survive by living off of lemmings, caribou, herbs, seals, salt and freshwater fish, whales, berries, and walrus. These people lived without technology for many years. They carved spears out of bone and ivory. The lives of these people remained unchanged until European, Canadian, and, later, American whaleboats appeared on the arctic coast in the 1700 and 1800s. These new people killed animals that the native people depended on brought liquor, gambling, disease, and new technology to their lives. Because of this, the native Inuit's population decreased by half. |