Line #24 Main/EskimoLand


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17	The far north counterpart to InjunCountry, and part of the HollywoodAtlas. Expect any Inuit villages to be a mishmash of outdated stereotypes. PolarBearsAndPenguins are the only wildlife features in the otherwise blank white landscape. The plant life is non-existent, the snow never ever thaws. The only people around are Inuit who never, ever take off their parkas, and they spend each and every day dog sledding, ice fishing, and seal hunting. They eat nothing but blubber, their ice igloos are their permanent residences (rather than their actual use as temporary shelter), and they know nothing about the modern world. And, of course, they send their [[{{Elders}} old people]] off to die on ice floes, either from exposure, starvation, or simply as polar bear food.
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19	A note on terminology: Many people nowadays consider the word "Eskimo" derogatory (it doesn't help that the term is sometimes thought to derive from expressions meaning "eaters of raw meat" in other Indigenous languages, though less pejorative etymologies have also been proposed). The most common alternative, especially in Canada and Greenland, is "Inuit" (meaning "[[OfThePeople the people]]" in the Inuit language Inuktitut). Note that "Inuit" is plural when used as a noun, while the singular form "Inuk" refers to an individual of Inuit origin. Complicating matters further, the Inuit aren't the only ethnicity that's historically been lumped as "Eskimo", so the proper terminology varies depending on where you go:
20	* UsefulNotes/{{Greenland}}'s only Indigenous inhabitants are Inuit, so that name is a safe bet there.
21	* UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} has a much more diverse array of Indigenous groups than Greenland, divided into three categories: Inuit, First Nations (formerly called "Indians"), and Métis (a distinct ethnic group that arose from mixed European and Indigenous lineages). You shouldn't mix these groups up with each other, but the Inuit are the only Canadians who used to be called "Eskimos".
22	* In UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}}, the Inuit (specifically the Iñupiat subgroup) are one of multiple Alaska Native cultures, who are officially categorized separately from the "American Indians" of the lower 48. Other Alaska Natives like the Yupik and Aleut peoples often resent being misclassified as "Inuit"--hell, even Alaska's actual Inuit people often identify more specifically as Iñupiat--and some, especially older individuals, prefer "Eskimo-Aleut" as a catch-all. But "Alaska Native" is a less thorny term that works just as well to encompass all these groups along with others in Alaska. When possible, referring to the specific Native community is the safest option.
23	* UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} has its own Yupik inhabitants, along with the related Chaplino, Naukan and Sirenik peoples, located in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, as well as Aleuts in Kamchatka Krai.
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25	Note that while the Arctic regions of Northern Europe and European Russia don't have any Inuit, Yupik, Aleut, or related peoples, they do have an equivalent in the Sámi (older name: Lapp) people of UsefulNotes/{{Finland}}, UsefulNotes/{{Norway}}, UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} and the Kola Peninsula, who, while not being a related ethnolinguistic group (they are ethnically European and speak a language that is related to Finnish), are very similar in their culture and their perception and treatment by the rest of the Europeans that make up their countries, and are included with them as Arctic peoples.
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27	Asian Russia, on the other hand, has a much more diverse plethora of indigenous Arctic peoples than the Americas, some (including the Yupik and Aleut peoples mentioned above) related to the Inuit, some not. This makes sense when you consider that all indigenous peoples of the Americas, from the Inuit in the far north to the Selk'nam of the Tierra del Fuego, are all descended from North Asians (they migrated there when the continents were connected during the Late Pleistocene). In addition to Yupik and Aleut peoples, the Russian [[UsefulNotes/TheFarEast Far East]] has the related Chukchi, Koryaks and Itelmen, the Evens and the Nanai (both being nomadic cousins of the [[UsefulNotes/{{Manchuria}} Manchu]] of Northeast China), the Yukaghirs, the Nivkh, and even a brand of [[UsefulNotes/TurkicPeoples Turks]] (the Yakuts). Many Russians also lump non-Far Eastern peoples, such as the Siberian Nenets and the aforementioned Sami, under the generic label of "Arctic peoples" as well, since, numerically, they are completely dwarfed by ethnic Russians even when taken together (yes, Russia did have its own version of Manifest Destiny).
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29	As another side note, this stereotype has even less basis in reality than most--they have a cultural tendency towards {{Hot Blooded}}ness (and, in common with other First Nations/Native peoples, an unfortunate propensity to alcoholism), have had a very bloody history with intertribal warfare, and will quite cheerfully use modern technology to make their lives a bit easier. Snowmachines are very popular, and rifle hunting is a favorite pastime. And Elders (at least in Canada), especially those who actually grew up in a more traditional lifestyle, generally tend to think that anyone pining for the "[[NostalgiaFilter Good Old Days]]" before modern conveniences, technology, and medicine is ''[[NostalgiaFilter utterly insane]]''.
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31	----
32	!!Examples
33	[[foldercontrol]]
34
35	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
36	* This trope is a staple of many classic comic strips of the 1900s until the 1970s.
37	* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' made a lot of gags based on this trope, such as "Eskimo Rescue Units" (in which Inuit use flamethrowers to rescue people trapped under collapsed igloos) and "Hibernating Eskimos" (which has an Inuit tribe hibernating underground in a desert).
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
41	* ''Film/AtanarjuatTheFastRunner'' is different considering it's a feature film made by an Inuit director and cast.
42	* ''Film/BigMiracle'' is better than most considering it's based on a true story and depicts the Inupiat community realistically having to deal with the political implications of the whale rescue.
43	* The first major documentary film, ''Film/NanookOfTheNorth'', helped perpetuate a lot of these stereotypes, as exact realism was not a major concern for documentarians in those days. For instance, Flaherty asked the local Inuit to hunt down a walrus with harpoons instead of the guns that they ordinarily used.
44	* ''Film/{{Eskimo}}'' was the first film in the US to have been scripted in a Native Alaskan language. While it deals with NobleSavage stereotypes, it was interesting in certain details: the lead actor was actually a half-Russian Jewish, half-Alaska Native, and some of the hunting scenes are not faked at all, they are real.
45	* In ''Film/TheLastAirbender'', the Southern Water Tribe is portrayed as an Inuit village quite accurately, the shops, clothing, and even utensils look authentic, and even the extras (which have no dialogue) are really Inuit, but [[UnfortunateImplications the protagonists are white]].
46	* Creator/RobReiner's ''Film/{{North}}'' abuses this trope horribly, giving the film's title two meanings.
47	* ''Film/SannikovLand'' is set on an island in the far north populated by a tribe called the Onkilon.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Literature]]
51	* In Creator/HPLovecraft's "Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu", there's a branch of the Cthulhu cult in a small native tribe in Greenland. Notably, Lovecraft, [[SignatureStyle true to]] [[AntiquatedLinguistics form]], uses the archaic spelling "Esquimeaux".
52	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAncientDarkness'': The Ice Clans of the Far North are based on real-life Inuits. The Chukchi people's traditional ways also gave the author ideas for the Narwal Clan's lifestyle.
53	* Creator/MarkTwain wrote "The Esquimaux Maiden's Romance", a comedic short tale that hits all the usual points of this trope, with the eponymous lass's father being the richest man in their village because he owns several iron fish hooks.
54	* ''The Incomparable Atuk'', a novel about a FishOutOfWater Eskimo transplanted to Toronto [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atuk whose movie script adaptation]] is reputed to be [[TheProductionCurse cursed]].
55	* This trope is utterly subverted in ''Literature/LandsOfIceAndMice''. The Thule (an Inuit culture that developed agriculture) are generally quite aggressive. And while they do build igloos, they are used almost exclusively for food storage.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
59	* Subject of a brief DistantReactionShot gag in an episode of ''Series/FatherTed''.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Music]]
63	* "I'm the only gay Eskimo" by Corky and the Juice Pigs.
64	* "Quinn the Eskimo" ("The Mighty Quinn") from ''Music/SelfPortrait'' by Music/BobDylan, which was CoveredUp in the UK by Manfred Mann. Zig-zags... or maybe subverts, or... Well, it does ''something'' unconventional with the trope by making the titular Inuk some kind of messianic figure.
65	* The Chukchi ensemble Music/{{Ergyron}} performs both traditional Chukchi dances and modern songs about Chukchi life, and hopes to [[SubvertedTrope subvert some of the stereotypes]] people may have about the natives of the Far North.
66	* The 1928 hit song "I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream," written by Howard Johnson, Billy Moll, and Robert A.K. King, describes a fictional college in 'Eskimo-land' called "Oogie-wawa," where football games involve "gore and flying fur" and where the school cheer involves shouting nonsense words and demanding frozen treats. That was probably [[DudeNotFunny pushing the boundaries of good taste]] even for the 1920s.
67	* Zigzagged with the album ''Music/{{Eskimo}}'' by Music/TheResidents, which is a ConceptAlbum about Inuit culture set on the North Pole. The whole album focuses on a group of Inuits. Although it's all made up and not well researched at all...
68	* Music/FrankZappa's "[[YellowSnow Don't Eat the Yellow Snow]]" and "Nanook Rubs It" (and by extension, "St. Alphonzo's Pancake Breakfast" and "Father O'Blivion") from ''Music/{{Apostrophe}}'' tell the story of the singer having a dream about being an Eskimo boy named Nanook who's protecting his favorite baby seal from a fur trapper.
69	* The final verse of the Christmas carol ''Winter Wonderland'' evokes this: "When it snows, ain't it thrilling / Though your nose gets a chilling / We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way / Walking in a winter wonderland."
70	* The "Ben Colder" (Creator/ShebWooley) song "Don't Go Near the Eskimos" is absolutely chock-full of stereotypes about Eskimos and EskimoLand.
71	[[/folder]]
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73	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
74	* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': The Sea of Moving Ice, which is at the northern extreme of the continent, is basically this, with tribes of hunter-gatherers who roam the ice hunting seals and polar bears. Oh, and [[GrimUpNorth white dragons, frost giants, and other deadly beings, too]].
75	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': The Skaelings are one of many tribes inhabiting the GrimUpNorth. Where most Norsca are fantasy Vikings, the Skaelings are based on the actual Viking name for the natives of Greenland, Skraelings.
76	[[/folder]]
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78	[[folder:Video Games]]
79	* ''VideoGame/IceClimber'' is definitely set here, with yetis added in. There are no penguins though, keeping the theme strictly "North Pole."
80	* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker,'' Zunari is a shopkeeper who is from "a very cold place" who looks the stereotype to a T. He wears his parka 24/7 even on the rather temperate island he lives on in the present. In its direct sequel ''Phantom Hourglass'' we find his apparent hometown and the people he was raised among. The Anouki (Humanoid penguins with reindeer antlers) are ice igloo-dwelling denizens of SlippySlideyIceWorld and ''all'' wear nothing but blue parkas (okay, there are two with yellow ones as part of a sidequest.)
81	* ''VideoGame/NeverAlone'' is a puzzle-platformer about a Iñupiaq girl who, with the help of an arctic fox companion, goes on a quest to stop a seemingly-endless blizzard threatening her village. The developers made efforts to avoid as many Eskimo Land stereotypes as possible; ''Never Alone'' was developed with plenty of consultation from actual members of the I&ntidle;upiat tribe, and even features "Cultural Insight" videos unlocked by in-game collectibles.
82	* Holoska from ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', the northern polar ice cap of Sonic's world and its own country.
83	* ''VideoGame/SpyroAHerosTail'' has Icy Wilderness/Frostbite Village, which is inhabited by hostile native Eskimoles.
84	* The Tuskarr from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' are a neutral race of walrus people introduced in ''Wrath Of The Lich King''. They're based on [[CultureChopSuey a mishmash of northern cultures]] and, oddly enough, a little bit of Polynesian influence for good measure.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Webcomics]]
88	* Possibly lampshaded in ''Webcomic/FriendlyHostility'' when Fox visits Fatima in Alaska.
89	* Riff and Torg from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' seem to believe the entire state of Alaska is like this when [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030817 Riff moves there.]]
90	-->'''Torg:''' Snowshoes?
91	-->'''Riff:''' Check.
92	-->'''Torg:''' Parka?
93	-->'''Riff:''' Check.
94	-->'''Torg:''' Dogsled operational manual?
95	-->'''Riff:''' Check.
96	-->'''Torg:''' Polar bear repellant? Igloo-building kit? [[PolarBearsAndPenguins Penguin-bait, with included penguin cook-book?]]
97	-->'''Riff:''' Check, check, and checkity-check.
98	-->'''Torg:''' Send me back some walrus blubber?
99	-->'''Riff:''' Just as soon as I get settled.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Western Animation]]
103	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', and SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra,'' with their shared FarEast fantasy setting, have the Southern and Northern [[ElementalNation Water Tribes]], {{Fantasy Counterpart Culture}}s that draw primarily from Inuit culture with a smattering of [[CultureChopSuey other influences]]. Its presentation combines stereotypical elements (PolarBearsAndPenguins via MixAndMatchCritters yields Polar-Bear Dogs and four-winged Penguin Otters, as well as Tiger-Seals, Koala Seals and Sea Ravens) with more accurate and original details in costume and setting design (they live in tents, have outfits other than parkas, unique and varied [[BraidsBeadsAndBuckskins beaded hairstyles]], and so on).
104	** Additionally, they're much more urbanized and technologically developed than most examples of this trope, particularly by the time ''Korra'' takes place, where they not only have at least two major cities, but also snowmobiles, jet skis, and even battleships. The Southern Water Tribe even has one of the world's biggest companies (one that invented film, at that).
105	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' ends with Helga's sister [[StepfordSmiler Olga]] going to Alaska "to teach desperate and underprivileged Inuit children". While they did at least update the terminology, the school building is a lone igloo without electricity in the middle of a frozen wasteland.
106	* Averted in the Greenland episode of ''WesternAnimation/KikaAndBob'' (which is kinda surprising, considering that this animated series often embraces ethnic stereotypes): The Inuits of Greenland live in houses and resent being called "eskimos".
107	* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short ''Polar Pals'', WesternAnimation/PorkyPig lives in an igloo, uses polar bears as blankets, and defends the local wildlife from a fur trapper named [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast I. Killem]].
108	* ''WesternAnimation/NanooksGreatHunt'', a fairly obscure animated series about an Inuit boy on a quest to save his father, who has been captured by a malevolent Polar Bear god. Set in the late 19th century or thereabouts, many episodes revolved around the culture clash between the traditional Inuit ways & the encroaching modern world.
109	* ''WesternAnimation/AThousandAndOneAmericas'': The sixteenth episode is themed around the Inuit who originally migrated across the Bering Strait and gradually populated the regions of Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland. Chris dreams of this period, and in it he befriends a young boy from this society.
110	* Creator/CartoonNetwork's ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow'' featured an episode called "Pizza Boy," where the title character has to deliver a pizza in "[[ThirtyMinutesOrItsFree five minutes]]" to Eskimos at the North Pole, who ordered pizza because they were sick of whale blubber. The joke was based on a true story. In the early 1990s a [=McDonald's=] franchise was opened in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, the first one in northern Canada. Within a few months it became trendy for Inuit living in the far north to have [=McDonald's=] ship pizza and burger orders up via air cargo on the weekly transport. Even after the national office discontinued the [=McPizza=], the Yellowknife franchise still carried them because the demand was so high. In 2000 the franchise earned more profit per square foot than any other franchise in Canada, and 20% of their income was from pizza.
111	* ''WesternAnimation/YvonOfTheYukon'': The show is set in the small town of Upyermukluk, set in the far north. It has a large Inuit population, but unlike many examples of this trope, the town is not made of igloos, but is a permanent settlement with proper wooden buildings. The locals, while quirky, are also not particularly stereotypical of Natives, and there are many non-native characters.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Other]]
115	* This is the usual setting for Russian "Chukchi" joke stories about natives of Chukotka, who are basically the same people as Eskimos, except they live on the Siberian side of the Bering Strait.
116	[[/folder]]
117

Context Main / EskimoLand