The tupiq (dual: ''tupiik,'' plural: ''tupiit'',

Inuktitut syllabics Inuktitut syllabics (, or , ) is an abugida-type writing system used in Canada by the Inuktitut-speaking Inuit of the Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Nunavut and the Nunavik region of Quebec. In 1976, the Language Commission of ...

: ᑐᐱᖅ) is a traditional

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

tent made from seal or

caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

skin. An Inuk was required to kill five to ten ''ugjuk'' (

bearded seal The bearded seal (''Erignathus barbatus''), also called the square flipper seal, is a medium-sized pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean. It gets its Genus, generic name from two Greek language, Greek words (''eri'' and ''gnathos ...

s) to make a sealskin tent. When a man went hunting he would bring a small tent made out of five ''ugjuit''. A family tent would be made of ten or more ''ugjuit''.

Fabrication and use

After the bearded seal is killed, its fat is scraped off, then the skin is stretched to dry. Finally, women will sew it together to make a tent. Layers can be added by laying heather on top of the outer skin and wrapping another skin around the tent. The tupiq was used on the land that was not on sea ice or snow. It was portable for travel and lasted several years. When stored over the winter, the tupiq had to be kept away from dogs. In the summer the tupiq was used as shelter, then in the fall when it got colder, the Inuit moved into a '' qarmaq'', a type of

sod house The sod house or soddy was a common alternative to the log cabin during frontier settlement of the Great Plains of North America in the 1800s and early 1900s. Primarily used at first for animal shelters, corrals, and fences, they came into use ...

, and the tupiq was used for the roof. In winter, the Inuit lived in '' igluit'' when the snow was good enough to build them. Then in the spring when the iglu melted, they moved back into the tupiq. The tupiq was important traditionally, but is rarely used in modern times. Today most Inuit use canvas tents called ''tupikhaq''.

References

House types Inuit culture Buildings and structures in Nunavut Buildings and structures in the Northwest Territories Tents Indigenous architecture of the Americas {{Canada-struct-stub