Reading Response: Eskimo Means Eaters Of Raw Meat

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21 October 2017
Title: The Eskimo
Eskimo are the most bizarre people that I encountered during my research. Their uniqueness stems not only from their way of life, but their name too. The name Eskimo means, “eaters of raw meat”. In fact, everything about these people is bizarre. This essay will be based on an article titled, “Eskimo culture beyond Igloo” which made a comparative analysis of the Eskimo’s old and new ways of life .Although the article largely chronicles their old way of doing things, which is markedly different from their modern ways, the Eskimo’s of today are not as unique as their ancient counterparts.
Nowadays referred to as ‘Inuit ‘which translated means, ‘the people’, this group were the early inhibiters of the arctic region (Mullen, 1994). The Inuit’s ancient culture is perhaps the most fascinating human culture ever chronicled. The bizarre thing about the community is that they live in the “…world’s most severe climate” where extreme winter conditions lasts nine months, with summer only lasting 3 months(Mullen, 1994). These extremely vicious climatic conditions make it impossible for anything to grow, thereby making the Inuit highly dependent on a predominantly raw meat diet. Another bizarre fact about them is that they are nomadic in spite of the freezing icy conditions. One wonders how they manage to move from place to place in such kind of extreme winter conditions.
Thirdly, this ‘eaters of raw meat’ were in perfect health notwithstanding their meaty diet devoid of vegetables and fruits, and the ferocious winter conditions. According to the article, the Inuit diet largely comprise of “…. meat, fish and eggs”(Mullen, 1994). It’s rather unbelievable that this people were perfectly healthy in spite of the fact that they thrived on raw ‘red meat’. Yet, in modern days, even well-cooked red meat is linked to a host of diseases. Their mode of diet defies the modern“…conventional nutritional wisdom”(Mullen, 1994). Even in their largely raw meat diet, they had vitamin and carbohydrate supplements which enabled them get a balanced diet. Predominantly hunters, they moved across the ‘arctic landscape’ throughout the year, only settling in makeshift ‘Igloo’ shelters (Mullen, 1994). Yet they managed to survive through the most extreme winter conditions on planet earth, of which even a vast majority of the European explorers succumbed. During summer, they dwelt in skin tents, while plying their hunting trade. However, during winter, they shifted into Igloos, and relied on ice breaking as a hunting and fishing technique. It’s an intriguing fact that Eskimos could break ice without using any modern day specialized equipment.
The Eskimos got their vitamin A from raw beluga whale and caribou meat, vitamin B from raw livers and kidneys and vitamin C from whale skin and seals liver (Mullen 1994). Another unique fact about them is that they were ‘extremely healthy’ people compared to their European counterparts who perhaps lived on a balanced diet. In fact the article docu...