Inuit Projects

Halloween is over and it is time to return to our regularly scheduled social studies topic: Native Americans, which is a perfect topic for November, since the next holiday is Thanksgiving.

We started our school year off this fall, learning about the Inuit people. Here are some of the projects we made:





Blaze and I made this igloo out of a 2 pound box of Model Magic. We covered a large mixing bowl with a plastic trash bag to use as a mold for the dome and a plastic cup for the entrance.
Here it is after we removed the cup ( it had been sticking to the cup and had to be removed carefully).





Next we made an inuksuk.



An Inuksuk or Inukshuk ( pronounced IN-OOK-SHOOK) is a man-made landmark, created by piling stones into the shape of a man. The word means "in the image of man".
Because the areas above the Arctic Circle are mostly tundra, there are not many natural landmarks, so the people of the Arctic built inuksuk. They may be used to mark good spots for hunting, mark a trail, locate a nearby settlement, or show where a food cache can be found.
In modern times the inuksuk has become a symbol of the far North, of hope, and friendship.

To make our inuksuk, we collected rocks that had flat sides, so they were easier to stack and glue together. Then we glued our rock man together laying flat on his back.
After letting him dry over night, he was ready to take his place next to the toy igloo.






Blaze made a sled to be used by his bendy dolls.

We started with two 8 inch long pieces of balsa wood:



Then we used the sander to round off one end of each of the sticks so they'd look more like the fronts of sled runners.
After that, Blaze glued short popsicle sticks to the runners.





I made an Inuit bendy doll to use the sled and igloo:




We also tried an Inuit recipe,akutag, also known as Eskimo Ice Cream.
Akutaq is a high protein, high vitamin C, desert with sugar and fat for the energy needed to stay warm in a cold climate.


Akutaq

2 Cups Crisco, whipped until creamy



2 Cups granulated sugar, added to the shortening and whipped.

1/2 Cup blueberry juice, whip again.

4 Cups of boiled whitefish (we used Whiting). Squeeze out extra moisture before breaking the fish into tiny pieces and adding it to the mix. Stir with a spoon.

Add 12 ounce package of frozen raspberries, 2 Cups frozen blueberries, and 1 cup cooked cranberries (I substituted one can of whole berry cranberry sauce for the fresh cranberries because our local store does not have fresh cranberries yet).



Stir well with a spoon until everything is blended.
Place in the refrigerator until it is cold.



Blaze really liked this from the moment I let him lick the spoon. Mostly what you taste is the sweetened berries.
DH got stuck on the idea that I was making "fish flavored frosting" and he wouldn't even taste it.
The recipe made a mixing bowl full of this yummy treat, but you may want to split the recipe in half if you are not sure how your family will react to a new food.